Passenger – Movie Review
With a decent string of effective horror films such as The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark under his belt, Norwegian director Andre Ovredal brings a slick aesthetic and penchant for prolonged tension to the supernatural, road-trip horror, Passenger, of which without Ovredal’s touch of terror, would be a truly tough watch.
The story follows newly engaged couple Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and Maddie (Lou Llobell), who embark on a van-life road-trip together, hoping to find an exciting new spark in their life and relationship. However, on the first night, they witness a horrifying car accident which sparks a series of terrifying and spooky encounters with a demonic entity that preys upon them as they traverse the lonely, open roads.
Passenger starts off very strong, with a cold open following two wise-cracking friends who encounter the demonic spirit on their own road-trip, leading to violently deadly results. With genuine tension building, only giving glimpses of what this entity could be throughout intricate and well-executed long takes that glide around the scene in a chilling fashion, Ovredal sets up a solid tone for what could follow from this bold, scary opening. Brilliantly and stylistically using car lights, dashcams, shadows and moving vans, Ovredal can’t be faulted for attempting to make a genuine attempt to scare the audience. And even with a handful of incredibly well set up and unique set pieces that lead up to the inevitable jump scare that will follow (of which Passenger contains many), the story and central villain remarkably misses the mark in matching the style and intensity that Ovredal is bringing from behind the camera.
There is a lacklustre chemistry between Tyler and Maddie that doesn’t fuel the engagement needed to care about these characters as they go through this horrible adventure. It’s not that the performances from Scipio and Llobell are bad. It’s that the script they’re working with is paper thin in emotional, character, and horror substance. And the result overall is a movie that just doesn’t manage to be even mildly interesting outside of its horror set pieces.
However, it’s not even the characters that are the least engaging part of the film. The central villain – this baron road dwelling entity – is quite lame. Whether it’s the below average CGI design of the demonic face, or the dull excuse of expositional lore delivered half-heartedly in a Melissa Leo cameo, the entity behind all of the film’s best moments comes across as goofy, rather than scary. All of the great work that Ovredal does to build up his scares comes undone when the demon reveals itself in predictable and tropey ways.
Passenger is such a mixed bag of a movie experience. With effective tension and build up to some solid jump scares, the substance underneath all of its style is so underwhelming that this becomes one of those movies that will probably be forgotten to time, especially in this day and age of horror.
Passenger is in Australian cinemas May 21
