If you need something to add to your watchlist, let it be the criminally underrated thriller, The Passenger, starring Kyle Gallner (my horror king) and Johnny Berchtold!
“Directed by Carter Smith, who horror fans might recognize from films like The Ruins, Jamie Marks is Dead, and Swallowed, The Passenger is a neat little character driven thriller that turns every service worker’s worst nightmare into a grim journey of self-discovery. Randy Bradley, played by Johnny Berchtold, is an introverted fast-food worker, content to quietly drift through life. That is, until his coworker Benson, portrayed by horror king Kyle Gallner, fed up Randy’s passiveness as he is harassed by another coworker, decides to grab a shotgun out of the trunk of his car and turn their little burger joint into the type of news headline that we have unfortunately become much too familiar with in this day and age. What follows is an impromptu killing spree, a road trip of reckoning for Randy as Benson forces him to confront various characters from his past, making Benson into menacing and nihilistic version of a “Ghost of Christmas Past” as he takes Randy from one location to the next, unpacking his psyche along the way.”
Watch the full video essay, narrated by Lance Vlcek and edited by Paul Bookstabber, on the JoBlo Horror Originals channel!
xx – Vannah
Siren Death Cult 