 What's going on guys welcome back to the channel critical overload here So this will be a spoiler free review for the passenger. This is directed by Carter Smith It is being pinned by Jack Stanley and it stars Cal Gowner Johnny Birch told and Liza well or will in our most important roles that I'll mention here This is we're all around the character of Randy Bradley who is perfectly content fading into the background But when his co-worker Benson 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 Now the passenger is the most intense experience I've had all year with the horror genre Kyle Gowner has been allowing us to experience his talent for over 20 years now well for me Anyway, he's been doing this for about 20 years because I've looked at a lot of his earlier works And he was on my screen for the very first time when I was about 4 or 3 from my memory And this latest effort is just him showcasing why he deserves to be in the screen King conversation The entire film demands your attention whether it be due to the tremendous camera work or its ability to keep you guessing With the handling of its narrative or it's highly captivating performances that are at the center Or the overall uneasy atmosphere that's established early on as well The passenger is a very relentless piece of filmmaking I can't deny that the screenplay is pretty straightforward But the character work is fantastic and actually reminded me a lot of training day Training day meets the hitcher I would say that makes you excited that you might be in for a treat here You aren't going to get any of the twists that I've seen people speculating in the comic section of the Trailer related to Fight Club. You're not getting that But what you will get is a very engaging comment of age story with Gowner absolutely crushing it every time He is on your screen Randy who is played by his co-star is a Quiet timid decent young 20-something-year-old who is holding on to a childhood accident That seems to have impacted his ability to stand up for himself and be his own person His co-worker Benson who is played by Gowner is also a deeply disturbed individual But his screws are completely loose in a lot of ways this man reminded me of Alonzo from training day And I'm being so serious now cow. He's no Denzel But both of those characters they have a chip on their shoulder because they think they are in control But in reality, they're not they're not in control There's a lot of emotion that they're holding on to a lot of fear a lot of trauma Jack Stanley's screenplay succeeds mostly due to our strong central characters carrying the story Benson is holding on to a lot of baggage that has corrupted his worldview. The character is also Somehow remaining very mysterious even after the film concludes a lot of details are safe to imply about him without the film relying on Exposition dumping however since these things are not explicitly stated This is what kept Benson so intriguing as a character layers aren't fully explored Benson is our antagonist if you want to view him like that However, the passenger gives you an opportunity to maybe second guess if this really is our antagonist And maybe it's some of the people we met along the way during this journey with Benson and Of course Randy the passenger knows what to disclose and what to leave for us to interpret as a viewer about this character Randy our titular passenger is who we explicitly learned the most about through exposition dumping Randy is a very likable Protagonist and his progression throughout this insane journey is great to witness Randy lets everyone walk all over him and believes he has a good reason for this Benson has noticed this about Randy and believes this little experiment as he calls it is designed to help Randy now Carter Smith's direction really enhances the entire experience There's a lot of tracking shots early on that I just absolutely adored shots like that gets you deeper into the story Unfolding on your screen and the passenger does a brilliant job at pulling the viewer into the experience with its characters Cinematographer Lynn Moncrive I believe is actually attached to the five nights at Freddy movie that's coming out later this year So I'll be curious to see how that director's vision is brought to life for that project because I think they did an amazing job here with the passenger some of the best visual moments do happen in that third act you see some of this in the trailer as Mention Galner is a force to be reckoned with in this role But before I commend his efforts even further I do want to talk about Johnny's performance as Randy because that is something to praise as well He and Galner have great chemistry together and Johnny captures the reserved closed-off nature of Randy so profoundly and his very much so like just fear Fearful outlook on the world because of his because of this Incident he's holding on to that. It's hard not to feel for the character and want to see him overcome this highly deranged situation Now Galner again just very profound in this film. He's very untouchable. I would say It's called the passenger because that's who's growth were expected to invest in primarily But the driver of this movie is stealing every scene His delivery is top-notch the zero to a hundred shift in Benson is nothing less than breathtaking to witness I would have to argue that this is a career best for Kyle Gallner. I've never seen him act in this manner I've seen him deliver great performances But nothing has ever stuck with me so much the way that the passenger has from this man Benson can be quiet or he can be rowdy and Galner is excelling at all of it He's such an intimidating presence and the way Galner is just devouring this role lifelong fans of Galner Well, you'll have a hoot with this movie. I'm telling you. He is he's on another level There's some great tension built throughout and so much that I had like this gagged feeling the whole time while watching One of the best instances and showcased in the trailer when Randy and Ben to go visit an old friend from Randy's childhood My favorite that you'll get to experience is the moment Benson walks out of the restaurant And we're just following him waiting for him to pick up that gun and return inside to do his damage like we see in the Trailer the way that that sequence is paced in the way It's one whole take that really just helps set the move get you on get you on the edge Get you feeling uncomfortable about what awaits the rest of these people inside when Benson returns into this restaurant the soundtrack or the score adds a lot of great tension adds an eerie the eerie vibe to the whole situation and Also helps add a lot of emotion to the later aspects of the film that can be rather sad at times and All in all, I think the pacing was handled very well Nothing went on longer than I thought it should for the most part maybe a few things but not like in the great scheme of it All I would argue. Yes, it is a slow burn. Some people might find this movie to be boring I don't find it boring the movie knows how to keep you invested the dialogue is also Worth worth wanting to hear so it's not like bad dialogue So that's a good thing too for anyone who might find it to be slow The movie has these moments where the intensity is picking up and then it kind of flat lines again I will say that but it's not in a negative way It's in a way that you know the movie is building to this grand ending And that's ultimately what you end up getting when it comes to these two characters in the situation That they have found themselves in now. I'm gonna give this movie a 8 out of 10. I am gonna give it