Passenger (2026) [Blu-Ray]

Director: André Øvredal

Cast: Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo

Release Date: September 8, 2026

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 4/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

After stopping at the scene of a gruesome accident on a remote highway, a young couple realizes they didn’t leave alone. A demonic presence known as the Passenger has hitched a ride, turning their van-life adventure into a nightmare they can’t escape.

‘Passenger’ accompanies a young couple who decide to leave their life in the city behind and start a new chapter travelling the world in a van and embracing the open road. But when travelling one night they witness an erratic driver followed by a gruesome accident and soon discover a strange marking on their van that was also curiously on the car that crashed, things take a dark turn. They soon begin to realize that something inhuman seems to be following and taunting them, turning their new adventure into a nightmare. Now they will have to try and uncover the truth behind this dark presence before it claims them.

Directed by André Øvredal (The Last Voyage of the Demeter, The Autopsy of Jane Doe) from a screenplay written by Zachary Donohue and T.W. Burgess, Øvredal does a capable job at the helm of ‘Passenger’ guiding along the tale with a stylish and clever manner of shooting the ride that looks gorgeous but is unable to overcome the cliché-riddled and underwhelming script. The film’s cast includes Jacob Scipio (Bad Boys: Ride or Die), Lou Llobell (TV’s Foundation), Melissa Leo (The Equalizer 3), Joseph Lopez (Insidious: Out of the Further), Miles Fowler (Bottoms) and a few others and while many of the performances are quite decent, some others are also undeniably lacking.

‘Passenger’ is a stylish and gorgeously shot horror film that has a few notable moments of terror and suspense as well as a story that could have potentially offered something new to the genre, but it tends to become tedious and underwhelming more often than not as it progresses, while also repeatedly suffering from a lack of originality that instead seems to almost go out of its way to rehash just about every bad horror movie cliché in the book as it chugs along to an equally uninspired conclusion. It has some solid moments along with a few relatively gnarly moments that will likely have some viewers squirming.

The unique and stylish manner in which director André Øvredal guides the film along is without a doubt its biggest strength, often cleverly using the camera as a weapon that tracks shots much as we’d expect those on screen to be experiencing them. Sadly, the often predictable reveals and turns, along with a varying level of performances by the cast and some dialogue that’s so bad it unintentionally had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion don’t do this one any favors and ‘Passenger’ ends up being far more of a disappointment than a treat when all is said and done.

Overall, ‘Passenger’ is a beautifully shot film that looks stylish and sharp, yet with a story and chain of events that’s a bit too heavy with the genre cliches and lacking in cleverness or originality. ‘Passenger’ is definitely a mixed bag of a horror flick and is somewhat disappointing as a whole, and while some genre fans and those who are intrigued by the story or even by the stylish way it’s shot may want to give it a whirl and decide for yourself, for those that are hesitant or on the fence about it, I would encourage just skipping this one. For those that are planning to check it out I would strongly encourage renting it or streaming it on Paramount+ before picking up a copy. Those that are fans though and want to own it should be extremely pleased with the stellar video and audio offered on the Blu-ray release.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Passenger’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks spectacular as a whole and provides a clean, sharp and nicely detailed presentation that never suffers from any issues or troubles to be uncovered along the way. Detail is crisp and gorgeous, with characters, vehicles and roads looking fantastic and the vibrant reds of brake lights shining vividly and perfectly balanced by deep, rich black levels that rarely disappoint whatsoever and perfectly capture the uneasy darkness that’s frequent throughout. Overall, this is a wonderful High Definition presentation that delivers nicely in every department and it should easily satisfy fans and newcomers alike.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is something special and it repeatedly immerses you in the tension and uncertainty throughout. It constantly takes full advantage of all seven available channels to send music, creepy noises, vehicle and haunting-like effects and quite a bit more consistently whipping throughout the various speakers, while never negatively impacting any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is a marvelous Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that goes all out and makes a splendid complement at every turn.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Passenger’ does not include any bonus material.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

–

Film Rating: 4/10
Disc Rating: 7/10

–

‘Passenger’ is Now Available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Paramount Home Entertainment

–

You can purchase ‘Passenger’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

*Screen-Connections.com is an Amazon Associate that earns from qualifying purchases