The Reel Review
A newly-engaged couple also new to RV life on the open road discover a demonic entity is stalking them in their camper van after they stop at the scene of a mysterious, deadly accident. Lou Llobell, Jacob Scipio and Melissa Leo star in this supernatural horror/thriller.
With a solid premise, an interesting incorporation of The Great Depression’s Hobo Code and impressively cool visuals, the start of this film from director Andre Øvredal (The Last Voyage of the Demeter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Troll Hunter) is actually pretty solid. Leads Llobell (Foundation) and Scipio (Bad Boys for Life, The Outpost) have good onscreen chemistry and Øvredal builds suspense with the relentless demon lurking in the shadows. Think Nomadland, but with a boogeyman.
The third act, however, is when Passenger careens into the ditch, as though its relatively unknown writers, unable to come up with a clever conclusion to their lackluster screenplay, instead opt for cheap gore and an increasingly bonkers (i.e. stupid) finale. Underutilized Oscar-winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) is a highlight in her brief two scenes as the traveler who warns the couple about the sinister Passenger, as the forgettable story limps to a frustratingly silly ending.
REEL FACTS
• The Hobo Code is a series of chalk pictograms that hobos used during The Great Depression to inform travelers about unfamiliar surroundings.
• 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 from Maddie in the parking lot, the filmmakers rapidly repositioned the vehicle whenever the camera panned away.
• Passenger was filmed in and around actual RV parks in Washington state.
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