The Passengers
July 2nd, 2025
MOVIE: THE PASSENGERS
DIRECTED BY: THOMAS F. MAZZIOTTI
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 2 ½ STARS (Out of 4)
RUN TIME: 71 MINUTES
RATED: PG-13
There’s such a thing as a “high-concept” or “low-concept” film production, a work that functions more as a conceptual exploration than traditional three-act narratives. Boyhood is a more mainstream example of a high-concept film: director Richard Linklater filmed over 15 years, revisiting actor Ellar Coltrane at different stages of life to shape a fictional narrative rooted in real time. We see similar experimentation in documentaries, narrative shorts, or even proof-of-concept projects designed to pitch larger ideas.
The Passengers, a documentary by director Thomas F. Mazziotti, falls into this category. It’s an experimental film made from interviews conducted with New York City residents in 1992. That footage was sealed in a time capsule, and now, decades later, it resurfaces—giving us a window into the past and, poignantly, a mirror to the present.
Mazziotti opens with a historical coda: it’s 1992. John Gotti has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life. The AIDS epidemic continues to take its devastating toll. Riots erupt in Los Angeles after the officers involved in the Rodney King beating are acquitted. Johnny Carson is preparing for his final show. It was, in many ways, a different world.
The interview subjects are a deeply eclectic and affecting mix: a Holocaust survivor; a gay man grieving his friends lost to AIDS; a woman confronting sexism in the workplace; an Italian man weeping over the love his father never gave him. Their stories are personal but undeniably universal. With each new voice, it becomes clear—there’s a bit of all of us in each of them.
Narratively, The Passengers isn’t easy to recommend in a traditional sense. Its 71-minute runtime is brief, which works in its favor, but whether it resonates depends largely on the viewer’s connection to the individual stories and conversations. As a concept or short-form documentary, however, it’s quite brilliant. It’s the kind of filmmaking that shows Mazziotti’s commitment to artistic vision. Still, there’s a challenge: after about 15 minutes, the film begins to feel like it has said all it has to say.
That said, this isn’t a dismissal. For a thoughtful audience, The Passengers offers ample material for discussion. The parallels between 1992 and today—systemic injustice, police corruption, the ongoing persecution of the LGBTQ+ community—are striking. That a compilation of interviews from three decades ago still feels urgent is both haunting and illuminating. It’s easy to imagine the same interviews being conducted today with heartbreakingly similar results.
Ultimately, The Passengers is a film worth experiencing, especially as a sociological or cultural artifact. Mazziotti deserves recognition for crafting such a poignant piece of independent cinema. I’m glad I saw it. It’s the kind of work that reminds us how much life changes—and how much it stubbornly stays the same.
THE PASSENGERS PREMIERED AT THE NEW YORK CITY INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL. READ MORE INFO HERE: https://nycindieff.com/?s=THE+PASSENGERS
2 ½ STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
