Passenger (2026)    Paramount/Horror    RT: 94 minutes    Rated R (strong violent content, some gore, language)    Director: Andre Ovredal    Screenplay: Zachary Donohue and T.W. Burgess    Music: Christopher Young    Cinematography: Federico Verardi    Release date: May 22, 2026 (US)    Cast: Jacob Scipio, Lou Llobell, Melissa Leo, Joseph Lopez, Miles Fowler.

Rating: ***

 One could be excused for assuming that Paramount’s decision to release the low-budget horror Passenger on the same weekend as the new Star Wars film means it’s a stinker and they have no confidence in it. I’ll grant that it’s creaky and derivative. It’s basically an update of “terror on the road” horrors like Duel (1971), The Hitcher (1986), Joy Ride (2001) and that one segment of Creepshow 2 (1987). It only vaguely establishes its boogeyman and the rules governing his existence. It’s not perfect, not by a long shot, but it’s definitely not a stinker either. It’s actually pretty good.

 If you’re a regular moviegoer, you’ve probably seen the teaser for Passenger. How can you not have? It’s been running for the past few months. It shows a couple of guys driving along a dark, empty road in the dead of night. The driver pulls over so his friend can relieve himself in the woods. The horn starts blowing continuously mid-pee. The irritated passenger returns to the car to find his friend gone. It gets freakier from there. It’s an effective opening.

 Then we get into the main story. A young couple, Tyler (Scipio, Bad Boys: Ride or Die) and Maddie (Llobell, Foundation), leave behind the hustle and bustle of the big city for life on the road. Riding around in a tricked-out van, they’re happy at first, but Maddie becomes disenchanted. It turns out sleeping in parking lots and hanging out with fellow travelers isn’t as romantic as she thought it would be. It’s actually a real drag.

 The proverbial s*** hits the fan when they come across a horrific one-car accident on a remote country road. They watch helplessly as the driver, the passenger from the opening sequence, dies a gruesome death. That’s not the worst thing to result from the encounter. By stopping, Tyler and Maddie enable a malevolent spirit (Lopez) known as “Passenger” to latch onto them. He follows them everywhere, terrorizing them at every turn. That’s what this particular entity does and he doesn’t stop until his victims are dead.

 Directed by Andre Ovredal (The Last Voyage of the Demeter), Passenger is like one of those scary stories teens tell their friends in the dark at sleepovers or camp-outs. It’s a simple, uncomplicated story of a young innocent couple running afoul of a deadly supernatural being while traveling through dark, unfamiliar territory. There are no surprise revelations or deep psychological insights. The entity isn’t a manifestation of guilt or past childhood trauma. He’s simply a scary figure in the vein of The Tall Man from the Phantasm films. He just is; no explanation. Isn’t that scarier than a demonic being with a backstory?

 The acting is about what you’d expect in a B-movie with no above-the-title stars. The biggest name in the cast is Melissa Leo (Oscar winner for The Fighter). She plays a fellow traveler who knows all about the evil of Passenger. In fact, everybody but Tyler and Maddie seem to know about Passenger. Leo does a good job in her limited screen time. Both Scipio and Llobell do solid work in the lead roles. Llobell looks suitably frightened at all the right times. So does Scipio. What’s more, their characters are consistently likable. They don’t act entitled or behave horribly. The worst thing they do is park for too long on a residential street. They don’t deserve any of what happens over the course of the movie.

 I will now address the most important question about Passenger. Is it scary? I would say yes, mostly. It has a few effective “BOO!” scenes and at least two truly freaky moments. In the first, the concept of space disappears as Maddie tries to make her way to the van across a giant parking lot at night. It’s like something out of a nightmare. In the other, Passenger turns up while they’re watching a movie on a screen Tyler rigs up in the woods. Maddie uses the projector as a flashlight to try and find him. So much for outdoor movie night, right? Then there’s the climax. It’s more nightmare fuel. Ovredal clearly knows how to work the horror genre efficiently and effectively.

 I’ll say this for Passenger. I love the random nature of the pop culture references. Ovredal manages to work Bob Ross, Roman Holiday and Hawaii Five-O into the narrative. I got a chuckle out of it. It also speaks to the fun nature of Passenger. It’s a horror movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s not one of those elevated horror pieces from A24. It’s just a good scary movie. It doesn’t need to be more than that.