Middle child syndrome is no joke so I have only sympathy for PASSENGER, the hapless horror film born between legit phenomenon OBSESSION and the highly anticipated BACKROOMS. It probably doesn’t help when your siblings are giving off fresh, of the moment, cultural zeitgeist vibes and you gotta peddle a throwback campfire tale/boogeyman legend/haunted highway flick that emulates the eighties. On the other hand, director Andre (TROLLHUNTER, THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK and THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER) Ovredal is not exactly a slouch and there’s something comforting about an unambitious supernatural stalker tale that delivers dopey jump scares on the regular and is perfectly content drawing within the lines while magpie cribbing from every possible source . It’s all pretty mediocre for sure, but I didn’t mind being reminded of the wonderful “Terror in Topanga” opening segment from NIGHTMARES (’83) or the always exciting late night TV motorhome/van-in peril stylings of RACE WITH THE DEVIL (’75) and THE HILLS HAVE EYES ('77) (It also favors a slew of movies I rented at Redbox (R.I.P.) like THE MONSTER (2016), THE TOLL (2020) and ALONE (2020). I should also note that I may have a long running RV bias because as a kid I would draw van interiors all day and imagine one day living in one. Additionally, my cousins had a stagnant camper in the back yard that they basically used as a club house and I fond memories of its moldy smell and reading CASPER and RICHIE RICH comic books inside).
Fetching young couple Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and Maddy (Lou Llobell) leave Brooklyn and their jobs behind to hit the open road in a decked out orange van they have named “Pumpkin”. Tyler asks Maddy to marry him and she says yes but they foolishly decide to help an anonymous injured man in a car wreck (this flick goes kinda hard on the “don’t help others” angle) which leaves them cursed by a low rent Reverend Kane-type dubbed “The Passenger”. In order to survive the entity's relentless attempts to murder them, the betrothed couple and their faithful orange vehicle must collect as many Saint Christopher pendants as possible, take a crash course in hobo symbols, utilize the sage wisdom of artist Bob “happy accidents” Ross, use a projector showing ROMAN HOLIDAY as a makeshift flashlight and finally seek the advise of a fellow van enthusiast named Diana Marsh played by Melissa Leo. A lot to juggle but totally doable.
For a guy that has delivered visual stunners like the aforementioned mouthfuls SCARY STORES TO TELL IN THE DARK & THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, this movie comes across much more salt of the Earth, no-frills than you’d expect. Besides a few nifty billboards, the landscape is mostly presented as is, which adds some realism perhaps at the expense of the uncanny. Luckily, a dark road late at night with compromised optics has a certain power all its own and needs little embellishments. The two leads are certainly likable enough and if their struggle with opposing views of what defines a home comes off as low stakes, it’s also a refreshing vacation from the usual confronting grief and trauma trope. I doubt PASSENGER has the weight or firepower to knock many people’s socks off and it does veer into dangerous BYE BYE MAN (2017) territory on a few occasions but it’s too innocuous to get mad at and its fiery climax and the spotlight kill that launches it have at least some gusto. It surely could have been improved by a more arresting demonic antagonist. In more than a few instances the titular baddie simply comes across as a toothless old man who is ornery about being woken (I’d definitely find such a sight more terrifying if I didn’t see it in the mirror every morning). Overall, I’d much rather Ovredall delivered a sequel to DEMETER than this unoffensive also-ran but PASSENGER is a serviceable enough near gateway-horror outing that if not groundbreaking, at least provides some comfort chills and a closing song from Siouxsie Sioux.
