Shudder Saturday: The Passenger (2022)

Quite a few people have been praising a film called The Passenger lately. It's a 2023 film that features Kyle Gallner in a central role, and I am very much looking forward to seeing it. That's why I clicked on the thumbnail for this when I saw it on Shudder. It didn't seem to be any imagery I'd seen previously, but I was curious. It soon became clear that this film titled The Passenger was not THAT film titled The Passenger, but the image and summary had me intrigued.

Ramiro Blas plays Blasco, a driver who has offered his services as a driver for people who then realise they may have made a mistake as soon as he pulls up in what looks like far from the most reliable transport (a slightly older and beaten up minivan). His first passenger on this particular trip is Mariela (Cecilia Suárez), but he then picks up Lidia (Crisitina Alcázar) and her daughter, Marta (Paula Gallego). Tensions quickly rise as Blasco manages to upset everyone in turn, but he's so unremittingly uncaring about what others think about him that young Marta starts enjoying his behaviour. And then they hit someone in the middle of the road. Putting her in the back of the van starts a wild night for everyone involved.

Co-directed by Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez (the former making his feature debut), The Passenger is a really fun and enjoyably gloopy sci-fi horror. Luis Sánchez-Polack, Asier Guerricaechebarría, and Javier Echániz are the main writing team, and they have a wealth of experience between them. In fact, Guerricaechebarría should already be known to Spanish horror movie fans for his work on the absolutely superb Errementari: The Blacksmith And The Devil, where he is credited with a slight different spelling of his surname. The dialogue throughout the first half of the movie is entertaining enough, developing each character in little ways that helps to add a bit of impact to the third act, and a final scene that feels hugely satisfying thanks to the constancy of one character's attitude to everything around them.

Blas gives an excellent performance (there's a hint of Luis Tosar about him, which is no bad thing), but he's easily matched by Gallego, who becomes the main person that he interacts with most during the journey. Both Suárez and Alcázar are very good, but they have to spend a lot of time eye-rolling to underline the ridiculousness of what Blas is saying throughout the first half hour.

I don't want to name the many similar titles that are better than this. That would give you even more of an idea about how things play out, and it would make it seem as if I didn't really like this. I had a lot of fun with this, more fun than expected, and I'm glad I stumbled across it. The special effects are great, the pacing is perfect, the characters are rounded enough to keep you interested, and there are one or two moments of real tension. It doesn't quite do enough to be great, but it's very good. I highly recommend it to people looking for something that hasn't been put on everyone's radar already.

7/10

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