Passenger Movie Review: A Gripping Thriller? | 2023

The setup is deceptively simple. Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and Maddie (Lou Llobell) are a young couple living the van-life dream, traversing remote highways in a converted camper van. One evening, they witness a violent, gruesome highway accident - a multi-car pileup that leaves wreckage and bodies strewn across the asphalt. shaken but unharmed, they try to help, but something follows them back into their vehicle. That something is “the Passenger” (Joseph Lopez, in a wordless, physically menacing performance), a demonic entity that latches onto their van and begins a relentless, shape-shifting pursuit. What begins as a psychological haunting - flickering lights, strange sounds, a growing sense of wrongness - escalates into a full-blown survival horror. The couple quickly realizes they cannot outrun this presence. It doesn’t just want to scare them; it wants to claim them both. The film’s emotional engine lies in the strain this puts on Tyler and Maddie’s relationship - can their bond withstand an ancient evil that exploits every crack in their trust?

Øvredal wastes no time tightening the screws. The first act is a masterclass in slow-burn dread: long, static shots of the van’s interior, the rhythmic hum of the engine, and the oppressive darkness outside the windshield. He knows that the scariest thing in a confined space isn’t what you see, but what you feel lurking just beyond the headlights. The cinematography by Roman Osin (who shot The Woman in Black) turns the van into a pressure cooker - every reflection in a side mirror, every shadow in the back seat becomes a potential threat. The sound design, too, is exceptional - the scrape of something across the roof, the whisper that seems to come from inside your own head.

Jacob Scipio and Lou Llobell carry the emotional weight with palpable chemistry. Scipio’s Tyler is the protective, slightly impulsive partner, while Llobell’s Maddie is more cautious and intuitive. Their arguments feel real, born of exhaustion and fear, not scripted convenience. Melissa Leo, as a grizzled highway patrol officer named Diana Larson, appears in the second act and delivers a monologue about the Passenger’s lore that is both expositional and chilling - she’s the kind of gruff, seen-it-all character that Leo plays effortlessly.

Where the film stumbles is in its finale. Without giving too much away, the confrontation with the Passenger becomes a bit too literal. The entity’s rules - how it manifests, what it wants, how it can be stopped - are explained in jagged, hurried scenes that lack the elegant ambiguity of the earlier acts. A few jump scares feel obligatory rather than earned. Still, the final image lingers: a shot of the van driving into the unknown, the Passenger’s presence now a permanent, invisible passenger in more ways than one. It’s a bleak ending, but one that fits the film’s grim logic.

Pros

• Superb atmospheric direction from Øvredal, who milks every inch of the van’s confined interior.
• Strong lead performances - Scipio and Llobell sell the couple’s fraying bond without overacting.
• Joseph Lopez’s physicality as the Passenger is genuinely unnerving; minimal dialogue, maximum creep.
• Sound design that burrows under your skin - especially the ambient noises of the highway at night.
• A refreshingly simple, high-concept horror hook that doesn’t overcomplicate itself.

Cons

• The third act leans too heavily on exposition, deflating some of the mystery.
• A couple of predictable jump scares that fall flat compared to the more subtle tension.
• The supporting characters (Miles Fowler’s Lucas Tedesco, Alan Trong’s Daniel) feel underwritten - they exist mainly to die.
• The film’s resolution may feel unsatisfying for viewers who prefer a clean, conclusive ending.

“Passenger” is a welcome addition to the modern horror-thriller canon - small in scope, big on atmosphere, and anchored by two compelling leads. It doesn’t reinvent the demonic-hitchhiker subgenre (fans of The Hitcher or Roadgames will recognize the DNA), but it sharpens the formula with a keen eye for psychological torment. The van itself becomes a character - a metal coffin on wheels that the couple can’t leave. For all its third-act stumbles, the film earns its high TMDb rating through sheer craft and a refusal to sentimentalize its horror. If you’re looking for something to watch with the lights off and the volume up, this Passenger is worth the ride.