The Wasteland Reviewer

Passenger (2026) Written Review

Would you stop on a dark road at night to help someone who crashed their car? You are in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by dark woods. There is no sign of civilization anywhere near you. This person was obviously speeding, and their reckless behavior certainly came back to bite them. That might sound like a “call it in” and move on with your life. To be honest, you never know what might be in store for you when you stop in the middle of the night in an eerie and secluded wooded area. That is the set up for Andre Ovredal’s latest film, a filmmaker who dabbles in all things unnerving and eerie. Hopefully you will not experience the same terrifying hitchhiker as this young couple in Passenger. 

Does Passenger offer enough from a story and writing standpoint to keep the audience engaged over this modest runtime? The most important piece to this equation certainly is the titular entity. This folk horror film does a fine job of setting up an eerie adversary with strong foundational lore. This entity is drenched in hitchhiker and traveler elements with a connection to Saint Christopher (the patron saint of travelers), leveraging Hobo Code, and punishes those who do not follow the rules of the road. The world-building and traveler culture highlighted in the film is well fleshed out by T.W. Burgess and Zachary Donohue’s script. The film does lean a little too heavily into tropes like a wise elder or the internet over-explaining lore. The final act does get a little too unwieldy as well, but this is still quite an engaging horror flick. One of the strongest elements of Passenger is that it has a core couple of protagonists we can genuinely empathize with. You have a young woman who bounced around her whole life and desires a life together with her man. Her partner lived an anchored existence living in one spot that felt like a prison. But now they have each other and the road. The van culture (with Tyler being a “van guy”) is well fleshed out and connects well with the foundational elements of the antagonistic entity. They have a sincere and genuine connection, but this traveler’s life is a source of contention. Passenger might not be perfect, but it sure does have plenty of strength in its text. 

Does Ovredal bring his trademarked eerie flair to Passenger? There are plenty of dynamic filmmaking elements that Ovredal brings to the film that make it such a worthwhile horror experience. Cinematographer Federico Verardi works well with Ovredal to bring the vision of this terror to life. Those who have seen the teaser trailer know that this sequence with two young men in their car turns out to be the opening scene. There are thrilling angles from car level travelling on dark roads. There are a lot of spinning camera moments with 360 degrees perspective that gives the film a fully engrossing and unnerving feel. You feel like you are constantly looking over your shoulder just like the characters in the film. There are plenty of strong set-ups like a creepy parking lot outside of a 24-hour gym as well as a romantic date night turned wrong involving a movie projector and screen at a campground. There is an interesting variety of camera angles and sources throughout the film including some creepy dashcam footage. The editing is quite effective too with plenty of impactful reaction shots that just make the terror one screen more effective. Ovredal does an exceptional job of finding the tension and suspense in all these clever set pieces. The film spends plenty of time connecting the audience with this young couple, so you legitimately care, which makes the stakes of the film even more poignant. 

How do the performances in the film flesh out the experience? One of the most important trends in the film is just how genuine and engaging they are. With the opening scene, you have two young men who feel so authentically like bickering friends that it makes it so much more shocking when they succumb to The Passenger. But the heart and soul of the film lie with Lou Llobell and Jacob Scipio. Llobell is so sincere and kind in her presentation that it makes her protagonist so easily likeable and empathetic. Scipio brings a lot of little elements and quirks to her partner that it makes for quite an engaging and fun pair. When you have a central couple that is so genuine it makes the weight and stakes of a horror film feel so much more impactful. You even have a small but memorable turn by Melissa Leo as a traveler who (attempts to) help them along the way. Her veteran presence feels so effortlessly authentic and we immediately trust her guidance. Special shout out to Joseph Lopez and Brett Bedrosian who combine to make The Passenger such an eerie and haunting antagonist throughout the film. 

Does Passenger continue this trend in 2026 of some great horror? Passenger never reaches the same great heights of Ovredal’s early work with Troll Hunter or The Autopsy of Jane Doe, but it does continue the trend of engaging and engrossing horror experiences. Ovredal just understands how to craft eerie and unnerving horror films. Ovredal delivers plenty of good scares and clever set-ups which make Passenger a good ride. A strong central relationship and plenty of effective lore building goes a long way in making a good horror film like this one.