“Passenger”: A Predictable Thriller That Delivers A Few Scares
In the 2026 movie “Passenger,” after stopping at the scene of a gruesome accident on a remote highway, a couple soon realize they didn’t leave alone. A demonic presence known as the Passenger has hitched a ride, turning their road trip adventure into a nightmare they can’t escape.
When I first saw the trailers for “Passenger” earlier this year, I really thought that they were really effective, even though there was a heavy focus on jump scares (which horror movie trailers should tone down a bit so they can be seen for the first time in the finished product). Then, I started seeing some of the initial social media reactions and reviews, which weren’t the greatest. Now that I finally had the chance to check this out, while “Passenger” did have a couple effective scares here and there, it lacked fresh ideas and ended up being another formulaic, predictable movie.
I will say that the overall concept of the movie is kind of creative, adapting the usual haunted house horror tropes to modern road-trip/van-life culture. Transposing familiar hauntings into mobile spaces - using dash cams instead of security systems, rear view and side mirrors for supernatural sightings and vehicle jack stands to mimic tight crawl spaces - actually gave the movie a distinct, playful identity.
Horror fans will be delighted to know that there are a couple sequences that can be suspenseful, such as a chaotic night driving scene through a desert road littered with victims of the entity (The Passenger) and a scene where one of the characters end up getting trapped under the van while it was on vehicle jacks. The integration of St. Christopher's travel prayers, roadside superstition, and urban legend/hobo code markings added an eerie, mythic backdrop that does what it can to keep the central entity feeling somewhat unpredictable.
One of the best moments of “Passenger” is easily the opening that takes place on an empty road and we see two friends get attacked by this entity (most of this sequence appeared in the marketing) and it’s an intense way to kick things off. Another sequence that is also tense and suspenseful is when the male lead (Tyler) is frantically trying to change the tire and the entity sends the essential bolts under the van. This scene turns a mundane roadside chore
into an agonizing life or death trap (the previously mentioned vehicle jack moment).
The overall story does eventually rely too heavily on standard horror tropes. Despite shifting the setting to van life, the over-arching narrative - a couple haunted on the road, seeking help from a mysterious stranger, finding an ancient church that could help defeat the entity, and confronting the evil - follows an overly familiar formula that leaves little room for any kind of surprises and twists and turns.
The overall response to the 2026 horror movie “Passenger” was mixed and highly divided among both critics and general audiences. While many praised its stylish directing and highly effective early scares, the movie was widely criticized for failing to sustain its tension through the final act.
MPA: Rated R for strong violent content, some gore and language (running time 97 minutes)
Initial release date: May 22, 2026
Streaming: Paramount Plus/various PVOD services (as of working on this review)
The film features a three-minute continuous shot that took 17 takes to perfect. To create the illusion that the van was mysteriously moving farther away, the filmmakers used a single vehicle and rapidly repositioned it whenever the camera looked away.
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