“Confront your past to survive your present…”
Last week we reported that MGM+ in conjunction with Blumhouse Television and Paramount had announced Kyle Gallner and Johnny Berchtold as the leads in The Passenger. Hold on to your hats, as we now have a shocking and intense trailer for the upcoming streaming original movie that may just blow you away.
The Passenger follows Randolph Bradley (Johnny Berchtold), who is perfectly content fading into the background. When his co-worker Benson (Gallner) snaps and goes on a violent killing spree, he’s forced to face his fears and confront his troubled past in order to find a way to survive.
A cold open shows us a scene from the film wherein Berchtold’s Randolph apologises to his one-eyed grade school teacher as Gallner looks on. The tense air and drab depressing nature of the colour-grading and production design immediately evokes tones of Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
As the trailer proceeds, a palpable chemistry between Berchtold and Gallner is evident, both excelling in their roles. Gallner’s intensity as the homicidally mad Benson is matched by an achingly shy and timid Berchtold. We immediately sense The Passenger will be a dark, serious ride, the tale of a spree-killer and his unwilling apprentice.
Directed by The Ruins’ Carter Smith, The Passenger couldn’t seem any further removed from the eccentric, gross-out laughs of that film. This seems like one to watch for a deep character study into a disturbed mind and a timid loner’s fight for survival.
The Passenger will release to streaming on August 4th 2023, and you can check out the trailer below:
