Movie in Review: Storytelling Elements in The Passenger (2023)

Some thoughts on horror vs. thriller, character development, relationship dynamics, and storytelling for The Passenger.

Hey Story Crafters,

‘Tis the holiday season! Regardless of what holiday you celebrate (or even if you don’t celebrate one), I hope you’re enjoying the festive spirit that seems to pop up this time of year.

There are a few holiday movies that habitually make my “to be watched” list for December, like Home Alone 1 & 2, The Santa Clause, and The Muppet Christmas Carol. But just because it’s the holiday season, doesn’t mean I only watch or read holiday-themed media. Just the other day, I watched The Passenger (2023), starring Kyle Gallner and Johnny Berchtold as the two leading characters. It was a movie I stumbled upon instead of actively seeking out, and if I had to pinpoint why the trailer intrigued me, I’d say it was the combination of the acting of the two leads and their relationship dynamic.

**Movie is Not Rated. Warning for violence, gun violence (in an active shooter situation), and abduction.

The basic summary is that the protagonist, Randy (Johnny Berchtold), is a timid pushover working full-time at a fast-food joint. He is bullied by two of his coworkers, one who actively harasses him and the other who encourages the behavior. A third coworker, Benson (Kyle Gallner), briefly tries to intervene and witnesses Randy get bullied into eating an old burger—it causes him to snap and kill their coworkers. He chooses not to kill Randy, and instead takes him on a road trip to find the root cause of Randy’s pushover tendencies and cure him of it.

Depending on where it’s searched for, The Passenger’s genre comes up horror/drama or thriller. This got me thinking about what the characteristics are for a horror story, and the characteristics of a thriller. I came across this article by Seth M. Sherwood, which I think does a pretty good job of breaking down the characteristics of each. The important thing to keep in mind, he says, is that horror and thriller can have overlapping characteristics—as is the case with most genres, the characteristics should be looked at in Venn diagram form. He then goes on the list characteristics of horror and thriller movies, along with examples.

Based on Sherwood’s breakdown, The Passenger has elements of both. The movie has thriller characteristics in that it’s set in reality (no supernatural elements) circa mid-2000s maybe, based on the cell phones, and there are moments when you feel like you’re on the edge of your seat. It’s got horror elements in the sense that Randy is the protagonist, and other than a few instances, the camera stays on Randy. We don’t see into another character’s head. The violence, tension, and terror of the movie are very much filtered through him. Randy’s primary goal is to survive his experience with Benson, not to achieve a big reveal that Sherwood claims is characteristic of thrillers. And while there is plenty of tension, there are moments during the Benson-Randy interactions where it deflates, or isn’t quite as prominent, before it ramps up again.

After watching the movie, I can confidently say it’s the characters, their dynamic, and the storytelling that make The Passenger stick with me.

The storytelling for The Passenger is very tight and straightforward. The opening introduces Randy’s character and his past trauma that made him into the very timid, pushover character he is in the narrative-present. (A detail that really highlights just how nonconfrontational Randy is, is the fact that he’d been at his workplace for a year, and none of his coworkers knew his first name. He was given a name tag with his last name and just…never corrected the mistake.) The opening shows him on an normal day at work and how he fits in (or doesn’t) with his coworkers. Then, the thing that changes—Benson tries to get Randy’s bully to back off. Randy lets himself get bullied into eating an old burger to restore the status quo, which causes Benson to snap, kill their coworkers, and take Randy on a journey of self-healing, in a sense. There are specific beats that are hit, and these plot points are coupled with internal growth in Randy, all working toward the end goal of Randy becoming a confident person who can make his own decisions and stand up for himself. And through it all, there are plenty of almost-lighthearted interactions between Benson and Randy, and plenty of uncomfortable ones, that made watching them interesting and entertaining.

Benson can be viewed as the secondary protagonist, or the antagonist, depending on how you end up feeling about his character. He technically fulfills the role of the antagonist because he directly opposes Randy—Benson might not have killed him, but he does abduct Randy and refuse to let him leave. He forces himself into the mentor figure role for Randy, taking on the responsibility of guiding Randy into discovering what made him “pathetic” with the goal of making him a real person.

Benson starts off confident and assertive, a contrast to Randy’s timidness and pushover tendencies. It’s implied that Benson sees the younger version of himself in Randy, and that in helping Randy, he’s preventing Randy from becoming a washed up nobody like him, stuck in a dead-end job in the same small town he grew up in. But as the pair head off on this road trip to help Randy better himself, their roles gradually trade off. Randy gets more confident as he finally faces uncomfortable moments from his past—he starts to grow into himself. On the other hand, when Benson encounters someone from his past (someone implied to have done something awful and traumatic to him; it’s never explained in the movie), he unravels (a.k.a., the climax). From the climax, it’s all downhill for Benson’s state of mind, while Randy becomes confident and makes decisions on his own.

So, if you haven’t seen The Passenger and you’re looking for a movie with well-developed characters, an interesting dynamic, and tight storytelling—and don’t mind or want to study suspense and horror elements—this might be your next watch. And if you have written a novel like The Passenger, I might be the editor for you! Please get in touch. I’m starting to book slots for 2025. Stay tuned for a holiday discount on all editing services!

Until next time!

Best,

Leah

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