The Facts:
Synopsis: A group of strangers sharing a ride has their trip interrupted when the driver hits a woman hiking in the dark of night. They decide to help her but quickly learn that something is wrong and that they shouldn’t have let her in at all.
Stars: Ramiro Blas, Cecilia Suárez, Paula Gallego, Cristina Alcázar
Director: Raúl Cerezo & Fernando González Gómez
Rated: NR
Running Length: 90 minutes
TMMM Score: (5.5/10)
Review: When so many horror movies look like they aren’t even trying, it’s easy to feel like throwing a little affection toward a film (and filmmakers) with a point of view and affinity for the genre. That’s why an offering like The Passenger (La pasajera) is so welcome while presenting a bit of a problem when reviewing at the same time. Is The Passenger a cut above the rest, the lame straight-to-streaming trash fests with poor effects, terrible acting, and no creativity around the plot? Sure. There’s a slickness to Raúl Cerezo & Fernando González Gómez’s gooey creature feature that is fun to watch unfold…just not for a full 90 minutes.
As we come out the other side of pandemic filmmaking, with projects that were greenlit before/during the global lockdown, I find that there is a healthy supply of “good idea” genre movies that can’t totally justify their feature run time. What starts as a great concept, with tight pacing and overly decent thrills, begins to lose air around the 50–60-minute mark, and the directors can do little to gather that momentum back. The Passenger is an excellent example of a package with all the right elements (unique make-up, lively cast, creepy location, inspired direction), just overstuffed with plot to the point of exasperation.
Were it not for his ‘dead-eye’ and dated views on dynamics between the sexes, mature rideshare driver Blasco (Ramiro Blas) might be the ladies’ man he envisions. Sadly, the former frontman of a rock band is relegated to lame flirtations with any female he encounters during long treks between towns in his retro caravan. On this trip, he’s ferrying a woman purporting to be visiting a loved one (though her wig masking a bald head indicates otherwise) and a scarred daughter being hauled between towns by her mother to her father’s home after typical teen behavior has made her unmanageable. All four won’t have to worry much about the final destination because the opening moments have shown us a strange presence has landed in the remote woods they are traveling through, slimy sediments that love warm hosts to latch onto.
Encountering someone on the side of the road that has met up with some of this goopy gross-ness, the caravan unwisely takes them in, hoping to get them medical attention, but, as all of these stories go, they’ve only made things worse. As the creature overtakes the group and sends them all sprawling through the unfamiliar terrain, defeating the initial organism will soon be a secondary concern when there is doubt about who among them might be infected and waiting to strike. Much flesh flinging and bloody business abound while running for safety, forming surprising alliances, and avoiding a growing mass of nasty parasites.
I can’t stress enough the goodwill I feel overall toward The Passenger. Even with a scaled budget, the filmmakers have made it look far better than movies made and released here with triple the money. I wouldn’t doubt this directing team gets nabbed by Blumhouse or another group to helm a project soon. The cast, especially Blas, is terrific, and that first hour is a **pun incoming** joyride. Then we get to that final half-hour, and there are problems. Cerezo & González Gómez start to gild that lily when it was already just fine the way it was. Most viewers will welcome that extra dose of creature mayhem but never underestimate the power of holding back a bit more. That would have made The Passenger a proper thrill ride.
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