Passenger (2026) Review!!

Synopsis – After a young couple witnesses a gruesome highway accident, they soon realize they did not leave the crash scene alone, as a demonic presence called the Passenger won’t stop until it claims them both.

My Take – A particular sub‑genre of horror has gained traction in recent years, built around an invisible and unstoppable supernatural force that stalks, torments, and kills its victims. Films such as It Follows (2014), the Smile series, and many others typically show characters fleeing through the night, desperate to escape a malignant presence that remains unseen or lurking in the shadows.

For his latest, Norwegian filmmaker André Øvredal, known for Trollhunter (2010), The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019), and The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023), retains this familiar element but shifts the setting. Instead of haunted houses, derelict buildings, or suburban streets, his latest film unfolds inside a mobile haunted house that travels highways and van camps. Unfortunately, the result experience is weaker than his earlier work, though not for lack of effort.

Director Øvredal has previously shown skill in crafting atmosphere and visual tension, and here he aims for a more claustrophobic horror built on waiting and the constant sense of threat. Yet despite some intriguing ideas, the film quickly loses momentum, circling a repetitive narrative without emotional escalation.

Working from a screenplay by T.W. Burgess and Zachary Donohue, the film delivers a handful of effective jump scares. However, the originality of the premise does not translate into a distinctive experience. Instead, it settles into the mold of a generic horror, unable to rise above the more commercial offerings in the genre.

Viewers who enjoy loud jolts and ghoulish faces shrieking into the camera may still find fleeting entertainment, but the film never achieves the impact it promises.

Opening with an effective sequence in which two buddies on a road trip run afoul of something supernatural, the story then moves to follow Maddie (Lou Llobell) and her boyfriend Tyler (Jacob Scipio), who have left their New York apartment behind to embrace the van‑life movement, chasing the promise of freedom in a world that feels increasingly restrictive. They may not agree on how long the journey should last, but they set out together, eager for adventure.

Six weeks in, cracks begin to show. Maddie, raised in orphanages, longs for stability and a permanent home. Tyler, scarred by an abusive childhood, resists the idea of settling down, convinced that home is not a place but wherever the heart chooses to be. Their opposing desires collide just as they witness a violent accident on a desolate road.

Doing what most would, they stop to help and call for assistance. What they cannot know is that leaving the crash site means something has left with them. At first, only the woman in the wrecked car feels its grip, but soon Maddie and Tyler discover that a demonic force known as the Passenger (Joseph Lopez) has attached itself to them, turning their journey into a relentless nightmare.

The premise carries undeniable promise. An entity silently accompanying travelers to their deaths could have yielded a story steeped in dread, built on the anguish of waiting and the impossibility of escape. Director Øvredal does manage to stage several effective sequences. Maddie creeping through an empty parking lot while the camera slowly circles her, the van crossing a field littered with corpses, and the inspired use of a digital projector screening Roman Holiday (1953) as a source of terror all stand out. There are also flashes of gore, most memorably when a character’s head is wrenched back until the neck bursts open in a spray of blood and vocal cords.

Yet the film falters in sustaining this atmosphere. It never evolves into a true exercise in cinematic anxiety. The writing is the chief limitation, unable to shape a compelling narrative arc. The script moves in a flat, repetitive rhythm, alternating predictable beats with surface‑level attempts at suspense, without ever probing the nature of the threat. The atmosphere remains suspended, suggestive but never truly disturbing. The titular entity itself is the weakest link. The film never clarifies what this force is or how it operates. V

ague references to St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, and the Hobo Code used by drifters are introduced through exposition delivered by fellow nomad Diana (Melissa Leo), who insists the entity has existed “forever.”

None of these threads cohere, and the muddled mythology undermines the menace. More troubling is the thematic undercurrent, framed through Christian iconography and demonic cautionary tale, which seems to suggest that the solution is simply to buy a house and start a family.

Performances wise, Lou Llobell and Jacob Scipio bring warmth to Maddie and Tyler, convincing as a couple who care for each other while wrestling with conflicting desires. Their work is sincere, though uneven. Melissa Leo is reduced to a device for ominous warnings and hurried exposition. On the whole, ‘Passenger’ is a tepid horror experience that never rises above its concept, settling instead into generic rhythms that squandering its potential.