Although a photographer by trade, Carter Smith has also been steadily building a body of work as a feature director. He is best known for his films within the horror arena, specifically body horror. 2008’s Ruins and last year’s Swallowed proved that he knows how to unsettle a viewer. For his new film, The Passenger, Smith strikes out into new territory.
Whilst Smith may have left traditional horror behind, The Passenger possesses several horrific moments. Moving away from vines and bugs taking over the body, The Passenger explores how trauma can ravage the spirit. Opening cold, it starts with a young boy looking on in horror as his teacher flails around the room screaming. The source of her anguished shouts are kept hidden, the camera focusing on the face of the child. Even without seeing what has happened, her cries are enough to assault the ears and conjure up all manner of ghastly imagery.
As the scene fades, the story leaps forward and the audience are introduced to the boy fully grown. Now a young man, Randy (Johnny Berchtold) has obviously been affected by what he witnessed as a child. He is painfully shy, introverted, and hates confrontation. This makes him an easy target for some of his colleagues at the local fast-food restaurant, ‘Burgers, Burgers, Burgers.’ His odd nature paints him as different and so he is subjected to bullying from one of his co-workers. As Randy is forced into performing a gross act for the amusement of his tormentor, another colleague, Benson (Kyle Gallner), snaps. Benson goes to his car, grabs a gun and systematically murders everyone except Johnny. Keen to not be caught, Benson bundles Johnny into his car and the pair hit the road.
These two intense scenes of violence – one seen, the other hidden, form the opening section of The Passenger. It is a lot to process; the mass shooting is particularly difficult to watch. These two events are not a sign of things to come however, but rather a catalyst for the real story to begin. Jack Stanley’s script is more concerned with exploring the power and effect of childhood trauma than being a cross-country murder-spree such as in Natural Born Killers. The violence quickly makes way for opportunities of connection as Randy and Benson are suddenly thrown into the mix together.
Randy and Benson are fascinating characters. Although they are polar opposites, there is something that binds them together, something more than their shared experience in the diner. Despite having been colleagues for a while, they do not have a strong relationship. Thanks to Randy’s anxiety around confrontation he has let everyone at his workplace, including Benson, think that his surname, ‘Bradley’, is his first name. The reason why Randy was spared then becomes the question for both audience and character. As the story progresses, Benson’s reasons are revealed, which prompt the viewer to reevaluate the character. Nothing can excuse his earlier actions, but Stanley’s script, Smith’s direction, and Gallner’s performance, ensure that Benson is a little more grey than the archetypal ‘bad guy.’
Strip everything else away and The Passenger is a story about two broken young men. The performances of Berchtold and Gallner are beautifully complex. Both of them commit one hundred percent to their characters, Smith allowing them to fully explore all sides of their psyches. Still young in his career, Berchtold is exceptional as Randy. His performance is full of quiet moments that convey the inner turmoil he lives with each and every day. The viewer can feel how trapped he is by his stilted stillness and stiff upright posture. Through proximity to Benson, and being placed into another traumatic scenario, Randy finally starts to come unstuck. The Passenger is his coming-of-age story, with Benson cast as the dark and brooding older brother figure he has previously been denied.
Gallner is one of the most consistent actors working right now. His roles in the excellent Dinner in America, Mother, May I? and Smile proves that he knows how to pick a good project. The Passenger marks yet another outstanding decision for the actor. Benson is an actor’s dream. The character is intricately layered and complex. He is the ‘bad guy’, but also the broken guy. Benson is in many ways, a tragic antihero. There is much more to him than the cocky rebel he pretends to be. In almost every scene after the shooting, Benson is clad in a fuzzy sweater. This can be viewed as merely a bold fashion statement, but look closer and it is a clear attempt to get the comfort that he so desperately craves. Benson is the living embodiment of ‘hurt people, hurt people’, and in spite of his actions, there is space to empathise with him.
As well as working on their own characters, Berchtold and Gallner have put time into figuring out the intricacies of their characters’ interactions. Even without words, there are visual cues to how the two are either working with, or against, each other. An early scene set within Benson’s car communicated their odd couple status through each character’s physicality. Driver Benson is loosely sitting at the wheel, legs manspread out, not wearing a seat-belt. As he drives and talks, he waves his arms around and looks at Randy far more than the road. In contrast, Randy appears small in his seat as he sits upright and deadly still, with his seat-belt aiding his constriction. These little moments help reinforce their dynamic.
As a whole, The Passenger is a skillful exploration of trauma and how it affects us all in different ways. Randy and Benson’s lives have both been touched by it, but each man has internalised it differently. Whereas Randy has become stuck, Benson has become angry. Neither approach is healthy, but both are valid ways to feel. As in life, there is no correct answer and so The Passenger is riddled with unquantifiable feelings. At times touching and tender, then terrifying and triggering at others, The Passenger is an emotional roller-coaster, but one worth the ride.
The Passenger
Summary
A layered and complicated story is enriched by two outstanding performances from Johnny Berchtold and Kyle Gallner.
The Passenger on Digital and On Demand in the US on 4th August 2023 and coming to MGM+ later in 2023.?
