IR HE Review: PASSENGER [Alliance Home Entertainment/Paramount]

Back in the day, a film like “Passenger” [Alliance Home Entertainment/Paramount/94 Minutes) would have been a great Dimension film in casting relative unknowns with a high production value and legitimately creepy mythology. The film came and went quickly at the box office but has some great possibility. Lou Llobell anchors the film as Maddie who has given up her job to go live the van life with her boyfriend Tyler (Jacob Scipio). A pre-title sequence sets up the killer at bay but lets the mythology slowly seep through. The film was completely shot in Washington State so it definitely has a cool underused feel while possibly being anywhere. The couple starts in Brooklyn (with Seattle filling in) but the roads could be anywhere. The story keys into the van life scenario including boondocking and using fitness centers for showers.

The best sequence of the film by far is simple and yet not. It involves Maddie all alone in a parking lot. It goes on for a while and really sells her dread but also loss of perception with some mostly in-camera tricks. Melissa Leo plays a camper that tries to warn her of the demon that lives on the road. The film does try to play to the modern influencer concept of life on the road but also speaks to the antithesis of that. The eventual build especially when Tyler sets up a screening of "Roman Holiday" in a forest setting really uses a simple structure and makes it scary. The climax is pretty cool but more cinematic than sensical but it still works. "Passenger" is a nice date-in movie horror night that is both fun, accessible and just gory enough for fans. The transfer is crisp but beyond the Atmos setting there are no extras. 84%/B

By Tim Wassberg