PASSENGER (2026) Movie Review

Indexado: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Hey guys, I'm Mike and today we're going to talk about Passenger Spoiler-free and how it's got a preview that's been playing for audiences in theaters for months and leaving marks in their underwear, but how ultimately it's really disappointing compared to the marketing in the trailer and how it's barely better than the latest Conjuring spin-off jump scare palooa Sony Pictures Blumbhouse type film for 13-year-olds, but how it does manage to be a tick better than those because of some weird mid2000s horror type stuff it has going on. So, join me on this on this ride to Buck. So, this movie is about a couple who decides to do what our buddy from pretty much it, Eric, does, which is live in a van down by the river.

[00:00:39]>> LIVING IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER.

[00:00:43]>> Not by the river. It's actually a really nice Mercedes van, as one redneck in the movie calls it. You get the Airbnb on wheels right out of this park, boy.

[00:00:50]Eventually, they cross paths with some sort of entity that looks like insidious Iggy Pop, which haunts road travelers when they drive at night and stop on the roadways. The trailers for this movie were so mysterious that it was really disappointing to find out that this was no better than a watered down half-thoughtout version of Are You Afraid of the Dark from Nickelodeon.

[00:01:09]Now, don't get me wrong, I love the ladies, but they don't belong in the newsroom.

[00:01:14]>> IT IS ANCHOR MAN.

[00:01:15]>> NO, I love Are You afraid of That's an Anchor Man joke. I love Are You Afraid of the Dark. Who doesn't? But with the marketing for this, it looked like it was going to be really gnarly and it was going to have a lot of really good scares in it and it just does not. There are good things about this movie for sure and we'll get to them. But first, let's talk about how this [ __ ] thing checks all the dumb horror boxes. Number one, the lore of the bad guy is just learned in the most lazy half-hearted of ways. Like seriously, a character goes into like a tourist shop, picks up a book about haunted roadways, and just flips exactly to the page with pertinent pertinent information about this exact thing and what's going on. I mean, it's just the laziest thoughtout stuff. And of course, you've got a creepy old lady who they can go to for information who will lead them into the right path.

[00:02:04]Shitty hot dog water movie writing. I can't believe they use Melissa Leo as just the person who's like, "I hear's everything you saying's about me. You better be careful on them roads now, boss." And then you have the couple who's the movie is just so focused on their romantic relationship. And it's about as interesting as like a southern local jewelry store commercial. You know, the kind with like that that that kind of attractive local girl who who thinks she's hot [ __ ] cuz her dad owns the store, but she still talks like this. Come on down to Clark's pumping ship. The main villain, by the way, all the rules make no sense. He's all powerful. I mean, he can do anything. He can drop you in and out of whatever situation he wants. He can manipulate the fabric of space and time. He can instantly take out anyone he wants. And he's completely and utterly unstoppable.

[00:02:55]Freddy Krueger on on steroids. And yet, right up until the point where he faces off against our two boring leads and then suddenly he's about as useless as a Cory Feldman album.

[00:03:09]>> The rules of the character or his powers are never set. They make no sense. The movie just uses them whenever it's convenient to try to make him look scary. But again, whenever he faces off against our people that he could easily kill like this, for some reason, he just doesn't. you can never get fully invested in it cuz you're like they're just going to slap some [ __ ] out there and it doesn't even have to make sense.

[00:03:28]There's no tension because we've seen this movie a billion times before. It is the corporate package. You've got your opening jump scare title introduces to two boring leads who hit every personal possible demographic that make them so squeaky clean and test audience friendly that they have zero personality whatsoever. They think their romance is like a like a Tay Swift album like pre-ivorce, but it's like the most boring generic story you've ever heard in your [ __ ] life. And so are the two people got jump scare with some boring [ __ ] Jump scare. Some boring [ __ ] Jump scare. Pointless person dies. End of movie. There you have it. That's passenger just like all the movies that came before. But there is one thing that does make that there is something on the wing. something. There's one thing that makes this a little bit better than most of those movies, and that is that it has this weird mid 2000s angle to it. It feels kind of like some of those mid 2000s horror movies, and the director has done some cool [ __ ] before. Andre Overdall directed Autopsy of Jane Doe, which is a super underrated good movie that has jump scares, but it also mixes in a cool story and some great acting with Brian Cox and Emil Hurst. This doesn't have the great acting by any means. And again, it falls victim to just being one of the most generic scripts you've ever heard in your life.

[00:04:44]But it's far better filmed than your typical Conjuring spin-off movie. Like the the the there are generic jump scares throughout, but at least it's not just terribly lazy CGI computerized boogie monsters popping around around every corner. You don't have to spend 30 minutes at a at a [ __ ] family barbecue as the movie preaches to you.

[00:05:03]It honestly reminds me of mid 2000s movies that had great premises but didn't end up as great movies overall.

[00:05:09]Movies like Mirrors starring Kefir Sutherland or Boogeyman. It's got a little bit of that kind of edge to it and the and the way that the camera works done really well. Uh it's a pretty movie to look at and it's just a little bit sharper than your typical modern jump scare or beluga. Just those movies that weren't quite good, you know, but they they they were interesting enough to be like I could [ __ ] with that on DVD. But for me, it came down to expectations. The reason I was so disappointed with this movie is that the the trailers were so good. And it is exactly what I feared. Everything in the trailers, the the trailer was a kitchen sink of the [ __ ] movie. I mean, almost everything in the movie was in those trailers. I was scared of that.

[00:05:51]And I figured they knew, hey, when we get to opening weekend, word of mouth going to be dog [ __ ] So, let's just just frontload this [ __ ] and get as much as we can opening weekend. Put it all in the trailer. That's what they did, minus one specific scene involving a projection uh movie player. That was really cool. Had a had a sinisteresque sinister-like vibe to it. Kind of a Freddy Krueger vibe to it. I really enjoyed that part a lot. The the the villain himself, again, the rules were just absolutely stupid and it was it just made it completely convenient for the script. But the idea is is cool.

[00:06:24]It's just kind of dumb that they make everyone aware of it. Like everybody who's in the RV community knows about the passenger.

[00:06:32]It's just that's so stupid to me that they have all these rules that uh yeah, by the way, we're not going to save anybody cuz all we care about is our beanie weeny community over here. Uh we're just going to let other people fall victim to them. Uh but we'll spray paint each other weird [ __ ] roadway signs so we know where to go. Stay away from from from this from scary Iggy Pop.

[00:06:52]But the expectation of it killed me. I think people will find this down the line and be like, "That's an underrated pretty cool little horror movie." Uh, like you would if you found some of those mid2000s movies, but as far as living in the time of the of the promise of how cool this movie looked like it was going to be, it's absolutely disappointing. So, I'm going to give it barely above the average score. It's it's just a six out of 10 for me. And I'm being nice. The disappointment in me compared to how badass the marketing in the trailer and the idea was, I want to give it like a three out of 10. But overall, when you compare it to those movies, it is better than your average just completely dumb and forgettable horror flick. So, it was it was fine.

[00:07:32]Some people will really like it. So, if you like that kind of movie, go see Passenger. I think you will [ __ ] with it a lot. Uh, but if if you know how you feel about these kind of movies, you know whether or not you want to go see it. If you're like me and the Conjuring stuff does not [ __ ] do it for you, you can wait until streaming.

[00:07:49]And honestly, the ending, the location and the setup of the ending could have been really cool, but they ended up just turning it into your typical like Darkness Falls type, you know, silly [ __ ] And again, a lot of people love Darkness Falls. Um, so, you know, a lot of a lot of people will love this and and I hope that you do. Uh, but it's a six out of 10 for me. That is my review of Passenger and got a lot of cool stuff coming up on the channel. So, if you enjoyed this, please click like on the video. It helps a lot. And make sure you subscribe cuz we got cool [ __ ] coming up. We'll see you guys soon.