“Lights Out” on the road

Not to be confused with The Passenger (2026) or Passengers (2016)…or any of the other Passenger-named movies. Why is this such a common movie name?

This particular Passenger movie is about a demonic force disguised as a preacher that basically decapitates travelers who stop on the road at night and get out.

Given the way the film opens, I would have pegged this for a horror comedy: two guys driving down a long stretch of road, one making fun of the other (in this case, the driver making fun of the passenger for drinking too much liquid and needing to pee when he said he wouldn’t). The rest of the movie is serious, so the beginning doesn’t feel like it goes with the rest of the movie.

I do have to say that the horror element is effective. I don’t particularly like The Passenger’s backstory—a demonic entity that took the form of a priest—but the way he appears is genuinely creepy. The scenes where The Passenger shows up between blinks of the hazard light are especially well-timed. But Passenger is at its best when he’s only there for a second, and then not there at all. Not an original concept, but a highly effective one. (I happened to watch Lights Out right before this, and their similarities were glaring.)

My favorite scene is when Maddie and Ty set up a movie screen with a sheet and are watching Roman Holiday. The Passenger shows up through the screen a la Freddy Krueger, first of all. Then Maddie is using the light of the projector that’s still playing the movie, making everything that much creepier. It culminates in the scariest moment for me, when The Passenger’s face merges with Gregory Peck’s. It’s creative.

The van-life angle is interesting, given influencer culture. But even that seems like a pointless thing to incorporate. It gives the modern-day characters a reason to want to travel in the van, but it’s not actually part of the plot. Which is fine, but not a whole lot seems to matter other than the rules of the road.

Besides some clever scares, the film is mediocre and a bit obvious. I don’t hate it; it’s a decent movie. But as a seasoned horror watcher, the stuff outside the scares felt like beginner horror. Lots of camera pans on the piece of information relevant to the story. Characters making stupid decisions that clearly go against the “rules” they are aware of. And then there’s a tidy ending? An HEA?

I don’t know…there’s not much to Passenger. But sometimes, a mindless watch is all you need.