The Passenger

August 4th, 2023

MOVIE: THE PASSENGER

STARRING: KYLE GALLNER, JOHNNY BERCHTOLD, LIZA WEIL

DIRECTED BY: CARTER SMITH

AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)

To call a movie “mean-spirited” is a hard term to get out of me. I loved Terrifier and Terrifier 2 and they don’t get more mean-spirited than those. I’m never shocked by a movie or afraid to watch something based on the subject matter. So when something does rub me the wrong way, it’s hard to win me over. The Passenger is not trying to be mean-spirited and succeeds at telling the story it’s trying to tell, but it’s the kind of story that is too miserable to recommend. It involves a guy at a fast-food joint, who murders a few of his co-workers and takes hostage another, proceeding to go on a ride of misery that is headed for an ugly end. The Passenger is as pleasant as throwing your body out of a moving car.

The opening sequence undoubtedly sets the mood. First, it begins with a flashback of a teacher holding her eye and blood all over. Her young student was shocked by the site. Then we flash forward to Bradley (Johnny Berchtold), he pulls his car into the driveway of the Burgers Burgers Burgers joint where he works. He’s quiet and shy, and clearly something in his past has traumatized him. There are only three co-workers, Benson (Kyle Gallner) keeps to himself, and then Lisa (Lupe Leon) and Chris (Matthew Laureano), who just make out the whole time, while Chris picks on Bradley. It’s not just that Bradley is being picked on, he doesn’t stand up for himself either, so Benson goes to his car and gets a shotgun, shooting the other two co-workers and the store manager. It’s a horrific and shocking sequence, which then turns into Benson taking Bradley for a ride, held at gunpoint.

It’s after this scene where The Passenger digs into its title premise, where poor Bradley is now trapped by a madman, riding in his car, and making stops along the way. The directing by Carter Smith and the writing by Jack Stanley is a painfully slow process of stops and unhinged conversations. It’s with every stop that the story becomes increasingly ugly. Benson is not kind to Bradley, although he was willing to stand up for him, we repetitively learn time and again that Benson is bad news. Even as the dialogue veers into learning about each character’s own personal problems, the only person to root for is Bradley, so we don’t care about Benson, we just want him gone.

It’s in the third act where The Passenger becomes worse. Benson convinces Bradley to go back to his old elementary school to confront the teacher that was harmed in the beginning. Instead, what we find is a teacher that was mean to Benson in his youth instead and he proceeds to take his anger out on him. It keeps the tone in a constant state of misery. We would like to cheer for one character or see that this moment could help Bradley discover his true self, but it only leads to more sorrow. The redeeming part is that Gallner is such a good actor that his character becomes a true representation of evil. I have to give credit where it is due because Smith understands his story and maybe wanted to tell one as bleak as this.

By the end, The Passenger has more than worn out its welcome. It reminded me of Todd Phillips’ Joker film, which also simmered in misery and ugliness. Gallner and Berchtold both stay committed to their characters, balled up with anxiety, fear, and sheer sociopathic tendencies. The acting is good and the sets look like a weathered small town that has lost its charm. From a technical aspect, The Passenger is good. It’s sadly just a movie I could never recommend. You’re better off going for a drive.

THE PASSENGER WILL BE ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND ON FRIDAY AUGUST 4TH, 2023, AND COMING TO MGM+ LATER IN 2023.

2 STARS

Written by: Leo Brady
leo@amovieguy.com