There are plenty of upcoming horror movies on my radar, and ever since I saw the first trailer for Passenger, it’s been near the top of my list. From my understanding, the teaser is basically the first scene of the movie — filled with suspense and ending with a jumpscare that got me so good my whole body went cold. André Øvredal’s latest project hit the 2026 movie calendar on May 22, and after reading through some of the reviews, I may need to temper my excitement.
The diabolical jumpscare wasn’t the only reason I was excited to see Passenger. I also appreciated the fact that the preview didn’t give away much about the plot (I’m so tired of trailers spoiling the whole movie). Now I’m wondering if there was a reason not much was revealed, with Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting saying there’s not much in the way of a journey or destination in Passenger. The critic rates it 2.5 out of 5 skulls, saying that lack of depth prevents it from being very interesting, let alone scary:
As gorgeously well-crafted and tactile as Passenger is, it’s ultimately undone by a screenplay that offers nothing new aside from putting its haunted house on wheels. Joseph Lopez does make for a haunting vision as the demonic entity, but Passenger never really fleshes this character out beyond superficial, undefined motives. Without anything for the audience to latch onto here, both character-wise and lore-wise, the barrage of jump scares winds up mostly toothless.
The story revolves around young couple Tyler and Maddie (Jacob Scipio and Lou Llobell), who discover they’re being stalked by a dark entity after witnessing a terrible accident on their road trip. Alison Foreman of IndieWire gives the movie a B- in her Passenger review, saying it really shatters the fantasy of van life:
The result lands somewhere between an imaginative creature feature, a brutal stalker nightmare, and a contemporary relationship drama as two nomadic lovers try to romanticize a life of perpetual instability. Their cursed tale isn’t emotionally profound enough to rank among Øvredal’s strongest work (even his mixed 2019 adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark resonates deeper than this). But as far as theatrical horror experiences go, Passenger feels engineered to keep genre fans consistently tense, while relieving just enough pressure to keep you nervously laughing throughout.
Ken Michaels of Rue Morgue says there’s a real flair to certain scenes of Passenger, building the tension throughout the first half. However, the story becomes more predictable as it goes on, which takes away from the overall experience. Michaels writes:
The narrative ride gets bumpy the longer PASSENGER drives on, though. There are some questionable decisions made by the couple, and the rules behind the Passenger and his actions become increasingly muddled. Little moments here and there don’t make sense, and raise doubts in the viewer’s mind just when the movie should really be tightening the screws. The main issue, though, is that for the devilish details, the basic beats of the story remain familiar, and there’s a feeling of inevitability as much as suspense as it wends its way toward its final destination.
Dan Bayer of Next Best Picture gives Passenger a 6 out of 10, praising André Øvredal’s strong direction but noting that Zachary Donohue and T.W. Burgess’ script would have benefited from some editing, particularly in the frustratingly generic finale that indicated the filmmakers didn’t know what they wanted to say. Bayer writes:
[The ending] is as generic a supernatural horror final showdown as you can imagine, abandoning all the fun sound and camerawork that elevated the rest of the film. Even the ultimate message that comes from Maddie and Tyler’s character arcs feels like too little, too late. As a thrill ride, though, it’s incredibly effective; the passenger himself is terrifically creepy, and Øvredal directs the set pieces with verve. Passenger is a very smartly-made film, precision-engineered to get a rise out of an audience, but it’s a poorly conceived one, showing the limits of how much good direction can save a stranded screenplay.
Despite plenty of seemingly valid criticisms in these reviews, Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert contends Passenger is definitely worth making the trip for. Rating it 3.5 out of 4 stars, the critic says it never feels particularly low-rent, despite being a “trashy B-horror item at heart.” Sobczynski candidly shades a couple of other current releases, saying Passenger will leave you the most entertained:
Passenger may not have big stars or huge hype going for it, but I would cheerfully take it over most of its current competition at the multiplex. It is far more entertaining than The Mandalorian and Grogu, and in terms of generating actual suspense and legitimate jolts, it beats the absurdly overrated Obsession like the proverbial gong. … Let’s face it—horror fans tend to sit through a lot of crap in the hopes of coming across some unheralded gem that defies their expectations. Passenger is one of those films.
OK, I have to admit some of the Passenger reviews took the wind out of my sails after being really excited for this movie, but that last critic might have roped me back in. Overall the horror flick’s Rotten Tomatoes scores reflect moviegoers’ tepid reactions, earning 45% from critics and 49% from audience members.
Catch Passenger in theaters now, as of May 22.
