“Protect me today in all my travels along the road’s way. Give me your warning sign when danger is near that I may stop while the path is clear.” Prayer of intercession of Saint Christopher, patron saint of travelers.
There’s been a lot of talk in the last few years that Saint Christopher had been stripped of his sainthood. Of course, that isn’t true at all. He had his feast day taken away, as all saints do at one time or another. You see, there are only 365 days to a standard year, and there are far more saints than there are days of the year. His feast day was given up to Saint James, the apostle. Why go through this bit about Saint Christopher, you might be asking. You see, the old boy is quite the center of the latest horror film by director Andre Ovredal. His last hit was the Dracula spin-off film The Last Voyage Of The Demeter, which was one of the best horror films of that year. He’s returned to his somewhat folk-horror roots with Passenger, and once again it’s the best horror film I’ve encountered this year. It’s now out on Blu-ray out from Alliance Home Entertainment. It’s got everything a good horror film should have and doesn’t lean too heavily on the standard tropes of jump scares or manic editing to mask the bad f/x. This one is a keeper, and you’ll get far more enjoyment out of taking home the Blu-ray than you will through streaming. Sometimes streaming is enough. This is not one of those times.
When the film opens, we encounter a couple of guys who are being stalked by some kind of a demonic figure. They are attacked, and the film leaves us hanging as to what exactly happened to these poor saps. But worry your head not, because we’re going to get back to them, and their misfortune is going to play a crucial part in what’s to come. Wait for it.
Jacob Scipio plays Tyler, and Lou Llobell plays Maddie. They are a young couple who have made a big decision in their lives. They’re giving up city life for a life on the road in a cargo van tricked out with all of the things they need to enjoy that life in some comfort. The van looks a lot like those Amazon delivery vans you see all of the time these days. We take some time to get to know them and get a feel for their new life. Jacob wants to marry Maddie, but she might not be completely committed to their new nomadic existence. We are with them as they visit campsites and a gathering of like-minded folks including an influencer who kind of gave Tyler the idea. One night on the road they pass a bad accident. You guessed it. It’s the dudes from the prologue. They stop, and it turns out that was a big mistake.
“For everything holy, there is something unholy.”
Soon the couple are encountering a demonic figure. They find claw marks on their van that look like Wolverine might have left them. They are three deep scratches. Efforts to buff them out only lead to their return. They speak to a woman who appears to know something about what is haunting them, played by Homicide‘s Melissa Leo. Maddie begins to research the marks both online and in a book she bought at a trade depot. It turns out the marks hail back to the old hobo days when folks would hop freight trains and travel about the country. They would develop a community of sorts and had a language of symbols that told others info about the area they were in. Symbols that told them how welcome they might be. Symbols that told them where they might find food and shelter. Some symbols warned that the area was hostile, and the three scratches happen to match the warning. This demon “entered” their lives when they stopped at the accident. The demon kind of hitched its way on their ride. They discover that Maddie’s Saint Christopher medal burned the demon, much like a crucifix on a vampire. They recall some of what Leo’s character said about an old church out in the wasteland named Saint Christopher’s. If they can find this hidden ancient church, they might be able to escape the demon. You’ve heard of the Antichrist? This could be called the anti-Saint Christopher.
It’s quite a nice little folk horror film with simple ancient rules and answers. The nomadic life adds a clever new element that I don’t think I’ve seen in a horror film before. It reminds me a bit of Frances McDormand’s film Nomadland from 2020. The film does a fine job of pulling us into this life so that we feel like we understand the situation and care a lot about these characters so that when the hauntings really start, we are following the ancient clues along with them, and we are just as hopeful that they find the church. In just a short time the film establishes the environment, gives us two compelling and living characters, and creates a mythology, and it does all of this in a nice tight 97 minutes. There’s no wasted time here. Every scene feeds into the atmosphere and story. Not a line is wasted while Scipio and Llobell carry the weight of the film. This is an old-school horror film where we don’t get overloaded on images of the demon. Short encounters and even shorter images create the fear here, not unearned jump scares and manic editing. The film doesn’t have anything to hide and doesn’t need to play cheap tricks to earn the fright. That’s extremely rare these days, and you will find this a compelling film from beginning to end. The van is tricked out with security cameras around the van that also give us some flashing images of the demon that might have appeared out of a Paranormal Activity film. In the end, the story keeps it simple and allows you to experience the story. The ending does get a bit too CG for me. It’s not the payoff, so I can live with it, but I wish that Ovredal had trusted his instincts and his cast and crew all the way through the end. I can forgive it because it doesn’t really take away from the film that got us there.
The cinematography is awesome as well. There is a particularly brilliant scene while they are camped in the woods with the van. Tyler has set up a sheet and lights, and with a television projector he creates a magical movie night as they watch the classic film Roman Holiday. When things go sideways, they use the projector as a flashlight, and it’s awesome, as the images from the film are superimposed on the wooded area as they pan it in panic over the area. There’s just something incredibly visceral in that scene, and it’s one I won’t soon forget. You won’t forget it soon, either.
I really only have two things I can say to Ovredal. Number one: trust your instincts. They are quite good. Number two? “Never ever stop.”
