©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Millions of truckers and cabbies can’t be wrong. They believe St. Christopher medals provide some protection for travelers. They probably have in mind more conventional dangers, like bad weather and reckless drivers. However, a young couple adopting the nomad lifestyle need its defense against an ancient supernatural evil that preys on wayward motorists in Andre Øvredal’s Passenger, which releases Friday in theaters.
As a former foster-care child, Maddie yearns to put down roots. Her soon-to-be fiancé, Tyler lived in a house with his dramatically dysfunctional family, but he never considered it a safe and proper home. Consequently, the prospect of life on the road appeals to him. Maddie has her doubts, but she gives it a try for his sake. Like trooper, she makes the best of it for a while, until they pull over for a grisly accident along a lonely stretch of highway.
At the scene, Maddie keeps spying a vague Michael Myers-esque “shape” from the corner of her eye, but whenever Tyler looks, it disappears. Over the next few days, the shadowy entity stalks and toys with Maddie, in a series of increasingly terrifying late-night encounters.
Eventually, it starts menacing Tyler as well. No matter how hard they try, they cannot shake it. It literally marked their van with three diagonal lines, the traditional “Hobo Code” for “this is not a safe place.” Yet, the malignant force clearly has a direct connection to them that goes deeper than their wheels. Only a trusty St. Christopher’s medal holds the power to inflict pain on the so-called “Passenger.” 
©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
In fact, the Saint and the entity might have shared some history during the early days of ancient Christendom. (Despite popular misunderstanding, the Catholic Church still recognizes Saint Christopher as a Saint. They simply no longer vouch for the authenticity of what was his traditional feast day.)
Intriguingly, Passenger rather skillfully fuses elements of Nomadland, It Follows, and “The Hitch-Hiker” episode of The Twilight Zone. T.W. Burgess & Zachary Donahue’s screenplay combines the demonic horror represented by the Passenger, with the folk horror trappings borrowed from early 20th Century Hobo culture, which reached its zenith during the Great Depression. The results are surprisingly smart and consistently unnerving. Yes, Øvredal enjoys springing a good jump-scare on the audience, but he also tautly cranks up the suspense during several longer, cleverly executed sequences.
©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
It helps that co-leads Lou Llobell and Jacob Scipio have considerable dramatic chops, but they are not burdened with movie-star reputations that precede them. Llobell is probably best-known for Apple TV+’s disappointing Foundation series (because it takes Isaac Asimov’s revolutionary novels and turns them into a Dune copycat), but they both look and act convincingly like everyday working-class people. They additionally develop nice chemistry that keeps viewers hooked, even during moments that inevitably strain credulity.
As a bonus, Oscar-winner Melissa Leo is entertainingly eccentric and intense as Diana, a veteran guru of the “Van Life” movement. Think of her character and performance as the closest Øvredal and the producers could get to having Frances McDormand reprise her role from Nomadland. For added authenticity, many real-life Van Lifers appears as extras at campsites.
Passenger is deceptively simple, but eerily potent, in ways that are reminiscent of Øvredal’s claustrophobic chamber-horror film, The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Yet, the lore involving St. Christopher, his demonic nemesis, and Hobo culture carries deep archetypal resonance. As in all of the best horror films, it acknowledges the existence of evil as a very real and palpable threat to innocence and decency. Nevertheless, Diana’s advice—always travel by day and never stop for accidents—ironically entails some rather anti-social (and depending on the circumstances, potentially illegal) consequences. Seriously, what would Saint Christopher do?
©Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Regardless, the biggest star of Passenger might be Federico Ferardi’s moodily lit cinematography, which always shows viewers just enough to maximize both the fear and the sense of mystery. The way an outdoor projector screening William Wyler’s Roman Holiday (conveniently also a Paramount release) becomes a makeshift flashlight represents a masterclass in the use of light and imagery to build tension. Frankly, this relatively unheralded genre film is as resourceful as a Van Life Nomad. Highly recommended for horror fans, Passenger opens in theaters this Friday (5/22).
Grade: B+
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Here’s the trailer of the film.