Passenger

Passenger
Starring Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo, Joseph Lopez
Directed by Andre Ovredal

Back in the day when gas was under $2 a gallon, my friends and I would drive around in my van in the middle of the night just to drive. I remember one night I stopped in the middle of a dark, deserted road filled with trees and no lamps and turned off the lights, and the ambiance was very creepy and eerie. There's nothing more terrifying than driving down a dark road alone, because you feel like someone is watching you. "Passenger" offers that sense of dread but proves someone - or something - actually is watching you, and if you don't obey the rules of the road you'll find yourself another victim of the road's unyielding power.

Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and his girlfriend Maddie (Lou Llobell) decide to give up the big city living and spend time roaming the backroads of America in their souped up van that doubles as a mobile home. At first they're both excited at the prospect of seeing the country, but after six weeks with no stable home, Maddie is growing anxious and wants to actually settle down somewhere. One night they witness a car accident and stop to help, and find themselves with an unwanted third passenger: the Passenger (Joseph Lopez) is an evil entity that lives on the road and latches itself onto anyone who doesn't obey the rules: don't stop, and don't drive at night. Now Tyler and Maddie have to find a way to get rid of their demonic Passenger before they become the next statistics. 

Andre Overdal is a fascinating director who's given some fantastic films like "The Autopsy of Jane Doe," "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and the criminally underrated "The Last Voyage of the Demeter," along with international horrors like "Trollhunter," and he has a solid grasp on how to make a movie tension filled while incorporating jump scares when necessary, but not because audiences are bored with what they're watching. "Passenger" follows that lineage as we follow a young couple who are being stalked by a road demon that they can't seem to shake no matter what, giving a sense of hopelessness and fear that permeates from start to finish.

The couple in question are Tyler, played by "Bad Boys for Life" star Jacob Scipio, and Maddie, played by relative newcomer Lou Llobell. Both actors give great performances and you really feel the connection between them, as well as their fear of facing the Passenger on the dark deserted road. Sure, they make mistakes that most horror characters make, but they also do some smart things as well that make them more than just mindless fodder. You really connect with them and the terror they're enduring, and there's not really a moment where the film lets up on it. Even in the daytime there's tension, but once night hits it's balls to the wall suspense. 

Overdal also does excellent work with cinematographer Federico Verardi, and once again "Passenger" is no exception. There's a supremely tense one-shot scene where Maddie goes through an abandoned parking lot but soon finds it's not so abandoned, along with a scene showing "Roman Holiday" where you'll never see that classic in the same light again. The ending as well is perfectly shot and a great culmination of everything this couple has gone through in the last few nights, as well as the audience watching it.

While not perfect, "Passenger" deserves a watch just to feel that sense of dread that will permeate through you the next time you find yourself driving alone down a dark street at night.

The Score: A-