The Passenger-2023

Director Carter Smith

Starring Johnny Berchtold, Kyle Gallner

Scott’s Review #1,509

Reviewed January 10, 2026

Grade: A-

The Passenger (2023) is a powerfully disturbing film that examines one’s purpose in life, specifically through the three main characters and a deadly chain of events set over the course of one day in a small town in Louisiana.

But if looked at more closely, lesser characters are also worth noting, making the message relatable to any viewer who feels suffocated or unmotivated.

The story is thought-provoking and intelligently written, offering a sometimes bleak perspective of existence and why we are here. The choices we make often leave scars and a life filled with regret, or, in some cases, blossom into new beginnings.

While a bit depressing as a whole, the film is rich with terrific performances and spot-on detail to small-town life. An independent-style budget is a winning formula with many exterior scenes enhancing the film’s tone.

The climactic diner scene is compelling, and the film ultimately ends on a hopeful note with a significant character having a bright future while another does not.

Randy Bradley (Johnny Berchtold) is a mysterious young man with little to say, harboring a secret from his childhood. He works at a fast-food restaurant in a dismal town, where two irritating coworkers bully him.

Randy’s boss takes a shine to him and sees a potential promotion in his future, but also doesn’t even know his first name and assumes that his last name is his first.

During a particularly dull morning shift, Randy’s coworker, Benson (Kyle Gallner), goes on a berserk and violent rampage when he sticks up for Randy. The two young men spend the rest of the day cruising the streets of their small town, pondering life and Randy’s past mistakes.

Benson is intrigued by Randy and determined to help him face his past while wrestling with his own demons and fits of aggression, which only deepen the chaos.

The Passenger could have easily been a by-the-numbers thriller and a shoot ’em up good time, but it’s more cerebral than that. The character-driven writing doesn’t always satisfy, but it raises the film way above the ranks of a genre film.

The bloody killing spree at the burger joint is exceptionally tense and the film’s best scene. As Randy is humiliated, with a seething Benson silently mopping the floor in the background, it is nail-biting to know what will happen next.

The culminating bloodsplattering will impress auteur director Quentin Tarantino and is clearly patterned after his work. It’s always satisfying when villains get their due in a bloody and gory fashion. As the dead bodies are callously dragged off to the walk-in freezer, the audience will undoubtedly give a quick smirk.

The intrigue of Randy’s backstory slowly unfolds, so the audience comes to understand the character. A terrible event that occurred in second grade involving a teacher, Miss Beard (Liza Weil), resurfaces as the teacher is introduced to the canvas in the final chapter.

How Miss Beard has fared since the event is enjoyable.

What puzzles me about The Passenger is the motivations and inner demons of Benson, though I find the character fascinating, and Gallner deserves recognition for his performance.

Suffering from rage issues, his mother appears to be bedridden at their home during a mysterious David Lynch/Twin Peaks-inspired scene when she meets Randy and asks him for the telephone.

Is Benson her caretaker? What are her issues?

Later, Benson brutally attacks a principal who was once his third-grade teacher. The beating is so savage that the man later dies. Why?

Still, the film’s minimalist nature adds oodles of realism. Despite modern times, 1970s and 1980s automobiles are seen, including Benson’s large yellow Chrysler, which has seen better days. The car is seen so often that it becomes a character.

A local greasy spoon diner where the servers have worked for years is paired with tired-looking homes and grey skies. These elements create an atmosphere that offers a rawness far superior to that of a movie set.

Director Carter Smith brings the intensity with boiling emotions and simmering secrets that examine characters residing in a small town, probably repressed. His offering, The Passenger (2023), is a pleasant surprise with flawless performances by its leads, Gallner and Berchtold.