PASSENGER

(director: André Øvredal; screenwriters: T.W. Burgess, Zachary Donohue; cinematographer: Federico Verardi; editor: Martin Bernfeld; music: Christopher Young; cast: Lou Llobell (Maddie), Jacob Scipio (Ty), Melissa Leo (Diana Larson),  (); Runtime: 94; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Walter Hamada, Gary Dauberman; Paramount Pictures; 2026)

“Mediocrity is the road traveled here.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
Norwegian director André Øvredal (“The Last Voyage of the Demeter”/”Mortal”) and writers T.W. Burgess and Zachary Donohue fill this low-budget horror/mystery road trip thriller with more jump-scares than there are bumps on the road and it’s still scare-free.

Tyler (Jacob Scipio, Brit actor) and Maddie (Lou Llobell) are a young couple from Brooklyn who take to the road in a van, hoping to get a fresh start on life. There nothing else we know about them and learn little else about them after their road trip from hell.

After witnessing a fatal traffic accident, Maddie freaks out and sees images of an old man, who torments her. He becomes known as the Passenger who makes her see things that aren’t there. She’s led to believe it’s a demonic entity when she meets the veteran van road driver Diana (Melissa Leo) at an event called “Burning Van,” who gets her attention by passing on this valued info.


Great visuals can’t cover-up a lousy story, dull characters or how underwhelming are the scares. Mediocrity is the road traveled here. The couple could have driven to Manhattan and saved us from all the mishigas we had to put up with on the road.

REVIEWED ON 5/23/2026  GRADE: C-
dennisschwartzreviews.com