'The Passenger'
Kyle Gallner kills in this taut character study centered on a murderer and his hostage.
Learning to Live, Thanks to a Murderer
I follow the director Carter Smith, the way one might admire a local band or lord over a hidden gem of a restaurant in prime Brooklyn. When more people get into him, I will be annoying about it.
I saw Smith’s second feature, “Jamie Marks Is Dead,” at Sundance in 2014, and caught his entry in the made-for-Hulu Blumhouse film series "Into the Dark” a few years ago. (He directed “Midnight Kiss,” the New Years-themed one with problematic gays.) When I found out he was back at it with “Swallowed,” an ultra-indie starring Jena Malone and “A Nightmare on Elm Street II” gay legend Mark Patton, I was excited to see what he’s been up to.
One of the things he’s been up to is All the Dead Boys, an artistic project that explores gay eroticism and, well, death. These themes are mainly explored through photography, Smith’s main gig before he started making creepy films. Imagine gay pinup shoots, where every guy looks sad/strung out/mildly injured.
Now, I’m obviously not a gay man, but I hope it won’t surprise anyone that I was intrigued. As an adolescent, I was severely emotionally attached to several famous gay men because I was taught that lesbians were, essentially, cringe. One of my favorite film theory essays explores the connections between porn, melodrama, and horror. I have a lot of Scorpio in my chart, yadda yadda yadda.
The point is, I signed up for ATDB’s weekly NSFW newsletter. And that’s how I found out about Smith’s latest feature, “The Passenger.”
“The Passenger,” a collaboration between Blumhouse Television and MGM+*, is a straight-to-VOD little ditty that I can’t imagine I would have stumbled over otherwise. It is also a really excellent film. The film, directed by Smith and written by Jack Stanley, follows a mousy young man as he lives the most consequential day of his life.
Said day begins at a sad Texas fast food joint, where our protagonist, Randy (Johnny Berchtold), is pushed around by his boss and one particularly dickish coworker. Apparently, he’s not the only one upset by the workplace culture. It’s not long before his quiet coworker in the corner, Benson (Kyle Gallner), stalks out to his truck, grabs a rifle, and blows everyone but Randy to bits. In order to stay alive — and because he’s the most passive man in the world — Randy follows Benson’s lead from there. Luckily, Benson wants to help his hostage live life to the fullest and stop being such a pushover.
I won’t say more, but what unfurls from that shocking premise is a tense-yet-tender tale of self-discovery, in which Benson plays both hero and villain. It’s a difficult line to walk, but there is no one better equipped to do so than Gallner, one of my favorite character actors working today. Often typecast as a creep or a lovable outcast, Gallner brings a simmering quietude to his roles that always makes him a treat to watch. (My readers might know him best as Colin, the emo kid in “Jennifer’s Body.”) Though he begins “The Passenger” in a familiar, vaguely menacing register, he quickly gets to explore new emotional heights. Benson is insane, of course, and volatile in all the bad ways, but that unpredictability has a lighter side, too.
Benson wears a fuzzy yellow cardigan for most of the film, and treats Randy with a kind of domineering affection. It’s unclear why he chose this kid — Gallner can tap dance between paternal, fraternal, and homoerotic energy within a single exchange — but he’s shockingly dedicated to improving Randy’s life. Berchtold is also an excellent foil to Gallner. Where his castmate has a bewitching, twitchy gravitas, Berchtold is about as threatening as a damp baby bird. Smith maintains tension throughout the film while also showcasing his leads’ chemistry.
“The Passenger” ultimately feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of genre, cobbling together the gore of horror, the emotional revelations of melodrama, and the stakes of a thriller. It could feel like this journey had one too many pit stops if the performances were less compelling. Because the story is so original, you truly never know when or how it will end. But Smith coaxes understated magic from his actors, making this odd couple as discomfiting and captivating as a car crash. Don’t watch the trailer, don’t find out anything else — just let this dark horse surprise you.
Run time: 94 min.
Not recommended if you: don’t want to watch a movie with a very bloody beginning, have an aversion to gun violence, foster years-long guilt over something you did in elementary school.
“The Passenger” is now available on video on demand.
*I didn’t know this existed, either!
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