The Passenger
Genre: Drama/Horror
Director: Ari Aster
Writer: Mo Buck
Based on the novel by Patrick Senecal
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Olsen, John David Washington, Stephen Root, Margo Martindale, Lesley Manville, Walker Scobell, Julia Butters, Iain Armitage, Cynthia Addai-Robinson
Plot: Three kids (Walker Scobell, Julia Butters and Iain Armitage) are running in the woods. It may only look like kids playing chase in the woods, but one of them (Armitage) doesn’t look like he’s having fun. He ends up tripping on a root and breaks his glasses, hurting his head on a rock.
Eddie (Robert Pattinson) enters his classroom looking tired. One of his students asks him why he always looks so tired, and he says he lives about an hour and a half from here, but he doesn’t want to move. He wants to spend as little time as possible in his apartment, it keeps reminding him of his girlfriend of the last ten years who left him right before the school year starts. After the bell rings, Eddie tells the class that they will talk about their childhood, an important source of inspiration for a lot of writers and as aspiring writers themselves, it’s important they discuss this and perhaps they’ll be luckier than him, as his amnesia gives him absolutely no recollection of his childhood.
With his day done, Eddie makes the trip back home listening to self-help podcasts. He notices a hitchhiker on the highway exit, but he decides not to help her, and he keeps driving. However, he noticed her face and he’s pretty sure he saw her somewhere, but with his amnesia, he can’t remember where he saw her at all. That night, he reads the book We Need to Talk About Kevin, as he wants to discuss the subject of teenage violence with his students, and he takes notes. He then falls asleep and dreams about a kid (Walker Scobell) killing grass snakes and hanging them from a tree.
The next day, Eddie goes back to the school to teach and on his way, notices the hitchhiker is still in the exit on the other side of the highway. He then teaches his students about the subject of teenage violence in literature, but his memory problem makes him forget most of his notes. It angers him and he takes the day off after the first period. On his way home, Eddie stops for the hitchhiker. Her name is Alex (Elizabeth Olsen). She thanks him for stopping and tells her she’s going to the city, just like him. It’s awkward a bit at first and Eddie turns off the radio. He asks her if they know each other and she says something cryptic about how they used to know each other, but Eddie doesn’t really catch on. She asks him what he’s doing with his life, and he says he’s teaching literature at a small college and these days he’s talking about teenage violence. She says it’s a nice subject and she has some strong opinion about it, describing with great details how she used to harm animals as a way to let her build up rage out. All of this is helpful to Eddie who will use it in his class. He drops her off in front of an apartment building and thanks for him for the ride.
That night, Eddie dreams about a kid (Walker Scobell) chasing another kid (Iain Armitage) on his bike, with the second kid afraid, like he was pedaling to save his life.
Inspired by Alex’s words about her own experience with violence, Eddie had an interesting debate with his students, and it will certainly be a class they’ll remember. For the first time in a while, Eddie feels satisfied after his day ends and he leaves the college to go back to his apartment, he’s hosting his best friend and his fiancée over tonight. On his way home, he sees Alex hitchhiking again at the same exit on the highway and he stops to give her a lift. Alex is fascinated about Eddie’s memory loss, and she can’t believe he doesn’t remember anything about his childhood. She tests him about some personal stuff that only a close friend knows, but Eddie really doesn’t remember anything. On their way home, something breaks on Eddie’s car and Alex says she knows a garage that can help them if he takes the next exit and Eddie listens to her.
They pull over to a small garage near the highway, with nothing else in sight. Alex says that’s where she grew up and Eddie has a déjà vu feeling but doesn’t think much about it. Eddie parks the car in front and decides to go knock at the door, as the garage appears to be closed. The owner, Gene (Stephen Root) answers and says they’re open indeed and asks Eddie what’s bringing him here. Gene is all excited, screaming to his wife who’s in the back store that they may have customers. Paula (Margo Martindale) welcomes Eddie asking him what he’s bringing them. Eddie says he heard something broke in his car and he doesn’t know anything about cars, so he came over for help. Gene says it may say “Garage” on the building, but they just take scrap parts and recycle metals, they really can’t help him. Eddie apologizes, and he’s sorry for disturbing them and he goes back in his car. Alex asks what’s wrong and he says Gene and Paula can’t help them. She tells him to stay there, she always gets what she wants. Eddie turns on the radio and listen to his self-help podcasts, but after a while, he decides to go check on Alex, who’s been inside for a while, but as he gets out of the car, she leaves the garage, her hands wet. She says she’s shocked that they can’t help them, but it looks like they’ll have to be on their way and hope for the best!
That evening, Eddie is hosting his best friend Marcus (John David Washington) and his fiancée Monica (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). Monica, unaware that Eddie is now single, asks him why his girlfriend isn’t here, and she gets a death stare from Marcus. Eddie seemingly shuts down, still not over his recent break up and Marcus asks him if he speaks to anyone else other than his students as it’s important to have support and he talks to them about Alex. Marcus warns him about hitchhikers and tells them a case he once had about a woman who was robbed by an innocent-looking woman she offered a lift to. Eddie says it can’t happen to him; they’re being overzealous. Monica asks him if he’ll take his pills and Eddie scoffs, saying he keeps forgetting to take them. Marcus reminds him that he must take them. They spend the rest of the evening exchanging pleasantries and Eddie wishes them good night. Marcus tells him to take care, he’s worried about him, but Eddie says he shouldn’t be concerned.
That night, Eddie dreams once again of the tree full of dead, suspended wood snakes, but this time, a young teen (Iain Armitage) is unconscious under the trees, with blood coming out his eye.
The following day, Eddie gives a lift to Alex once again, who asks him if he sleeps well at night, because he used to have trouble sleeping when they were kids. It finally dawns on Eddie that he knew Alex when he was younger, and he asks her if she’s the girl in his dreams. Alex jokes and asks him he she’s as cute as she is, and Eddie laughs it off. He asks her why they stopped hanging out and Alex says her parents made her move away for her dad’s job. Eddie says she should come over for dinner one day so they can catch up, but Alex declines, because she’s afraid he’s going to judge her. He’s so sophisticated and she’s poor and they can still catch up in the car every day. Eddie says it’s a good idea.
That night, Eddie is dining with his parents in his childhood home. His father, Mark (Vincent D’Onofrio) is reading the newspaper with the front page saying a man who kidnapped his daughter’s killer was sentenced to life in prison. Eddie’s mother, Sandra (Lesley Manville) kisses her son on the cheek and gives him a long hug, asking how he’s holding up. Eddie says he’s fine, but his mother is concerned, saying he looks tired. He insists he’s fine and goes back to the living room to talk with his father who finally puts the paper down. He tells his son that he’s going to get over it, it was just a girl and Eddie says he knows it, they don’t need to remind it to him every day. They sit awkwardly in silence, as they don’t have much in common. Mark says the world is a crazy place, he just read about a couple who was assassinated in a garage on the edges of town. Eddie asks where and Mark says Gene and Paula were killed yesterday. They don’t deserve it, they were good people. This news comes as a shock to Eddie who sits back in the sofa, his vision blurry. Were they killed by Alex ? The time of their death coincides with their visit to the garage and Alex did take an awfully long time in there. Eddie is brought back to reality by his mother asking him to come eat dinner. As he sits down at the table, he looks in the backyard and he sees a familiar tree in the woods, but there are no wood snakes hanging off from it.
That night, Eddie dreams about him and Alex (Walker Scobell and Julia Butters) playing in the woods behind his home. She looks at him with the same the look she has now and kills a wood snake with her bare hands.
Eddie slows down on the highway and Alex gets in the car. Before she can even say a word, he asks her if she killed poor old Gene and Paula at the garage the other day. Alex says she doesn’t know what he’s talking about and tries to talk about their childhood, but Eddie keeps asking her why she killed these two people. She says she didn’t kill him and asks him to drive other there so they can learn more about their death and realise Alex didn’t kill them after all.
When they arrive at the garage, it is taped off by the police, so they can’t get in, but they see clear signs of a fight. She asks him if he heard her fighting against them and Eddie must admit that he didn’t. As they get back to the car, a woman is running in front of the garage and stops, asking them what they’re doing here. As Eddie tries to explain the situation, Alex walks towards the woman and pulls out a knife. She winks at Eddie and kills the woman in front of him. Eddie starts cursing and leaves in his car as Alex looks at him smiling.
When Eddie gets back home, he wants to take his pills because he keeps forgetting to take them. He gets a call from his mother who reminds him to take his pills. It’s not because his girlfriend left him that he wants to forget about everything. She couldn’t bear it if he didn’t recognize her anymore, so he must take the pills to fight off the amnesia. Despite his mother pleas, he decides not to take the pills, he’d rather forget what he saw tonight.
That night, Eddie dreams about him and Alex chasing a third kid (Iain Armitage) and he stumbles on a rock and hurts his head. Alex takes out a pocket knife and cuts the kid a little bit on the arm. She enjoys it and weirdly he does too.
The following day, Eddie keeps reminding himself that he won’t let Alex get in car tonight. No matter what happens, he won’t stop for her. He teaches his class, eats his lunch and grades papers, all while reminding himself that he won’t stop for Alex. The weather is horrible outside. It’s late November and there’s a thin, icy rain coming down. In the parking lot, Eddie takes his ice scraper and tries to get it to come off his windshield, but the movement and the noise reminds him of Alex killing the woman and Alex hurting the boy when they were younger. A colleague asks him if everything is alright and that brings him back to reality. He finally gets in his car and says it out loud, he won’t stop for Alex tonight. As he gets near the highway exit he usually sees Alex, he turns up the volume of his self help podcast. He sees her silhouette from afar. He keeps fixing her and looks at him, smiling, as if nothing happened in the past few days, but her smile soon turns creepy. He passes right past her and Eddie slams on the brakes on the side of the road, the car sliding on the ice. Alex gets in and says she was afraid he wouldn’t stop today. Eddie says he tried not to stop, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He starts driving in the awful conditions and turns Alex turns the volume down and says she has that effect on people. She says she got rid of the body yesterday like Eddie used to get rid of the wood snakes when they were younger so they have nothing to worry about. Eddie tells her that she’s a crazy woman and she’s slowly destroying his life. He’s been acting crazy in the past couple of days, hallucinating and having these weird nightmares repeatedly.
As he argues with her, he nearly gets into a car accident, but regains control of the car at the last second. He decides to stop a rest area. He goes in the bathroom and Alex follows him. He splashes water on his face and Alex asks him what’s wrong. He looks at her in disbelief and says he’s been involved in three homicides committed by her in the past two days and she dares to ask him what’s wrong ? He orders her to leave him alone immediately and never try to contact him again. He’ll call the police if he ever sees her again. Before Alex gets a chance to answer back, a man comes out of a bathroom stall and says it’s messed up. Eddie doesn’t how to react since the man just heard everything, so he pushes him. The man stumbles and lands awkwardly on the toilet, hitting his head. Eddie can’t believe what just happened. Alex says there’s no one here so they can put in the trunk. Eddie panics, but ends up listening to her, it looks like she has more experience that he does for that sort of thing. Back in the car, Eddie asks her where they’re going, and she asks him to drive to Gene’s garage. When they get there, they realise the police tape is gone, the place is just barricaded. Alex breaks down the front door as Eddie realises that the man is still alive and moving in the trunk. Alex looks at him with a sadistic smile and tells him to finish him and she tosses him a pocket knife. Eddie turns around and blacks out.
Eddie splashes ice cold water on his face in his apartment as he comes back to his senses. He doesn’t know what happened after he blacked out but he knows deep down that the man is dead somehow. He searches on the internet looking for articles about the murders Alex committed but he can’t find anything. Tormented by the guilt, he calls his friend Marcus and tells him he wants to talk. Marcus says he doesn’t have time, he’s swamped at work and suggests he calls Monica if he really needs someone. That reminds Eddie that he has to go to work, but he looks at the time but it’s way too late. He gets in his car and drives to the police station.
He then confronts Marcus and he whispers to him that he has information about murders and Marcus asks him to keep it down. They leave the police station as Marcus asks Eddie about more details. Marcus doesn’t seem to believe Eddie, but he’s insistent, so he agrees to follow him to a small town and wait for them at the garage that night.
Eddie drives way over the limit to try and get to the highway exit at the usual time. He finds Alex there, waiting for him. She says she knew he would miss her and couldn’t wait to see her again. He drives to the garage in silence, not answering her questions. It’s uncharacteristic that even Alex suspects something is wrong.
Marcus waits, hidden in the attic of the garage where Gene and Paula were brutally murdered. He texts Monica that he’ll be late, it seems like Eddie is acting up. He sees the headlights turn off and hears Eddie come in. He turns on his recording device to try and catch a confession from Alex. He hears Eddie’s voice talking about the murder but tries to get closer to hear the conversation. He can’t hear anything and moves closer and closer, but he doesn’t see Alex, just Eddie. He turns off the recording device and grabs his phone, calling his supervisor. He tries to tell him his friend is acting up, but he’s surprised by Eddie and they start fighting. Marcus can clearly see Eddie isn’t himself, he’s much stronger than usual. Eddie pushes him down the attic all the way down the main floor and Marcus loses consciousness.
Eddie comes back to reality and sees Marcus is dead, his face caved in, as he was hit with bloodied wrench lying next to him. He looks around for Alex but can’t see her anywhere. He runs to his car and drives to his parents. He bursts through the door and asks his parents who is Alex. His mother starts crying and his father asks him why he’s talking about Alex. Sandra thinks he stops taking his pills. Eddie doesn’t understand what’s happening. His father tells him that Eddie is schizophrenic, and he had an imaginary friend when he was younger, Alex. Eddie sees flashbacks of his childhood as his father is telling him this. He says Alex made him kill snakes and it even escalated to a point where he badly hurt a young boy, Eric, after chasing him with his bike. He’s still unconscious to this day. He still remembers the day he got rid of his bike, he gave him to Gene at the garage and that’s when his father realises something is up. Eddie doesn’t believe his parents and runs away while his parents beg him to stay.
Eddie drives back to the garage listening to Marcus’ recording device. He listens carefully, but can’t hear anything other than his voice. There’s a snowstorm outside and he nearly loses control of his car. He gets to the garage and follows footsteps in the snow. He follows them for a while and finds the 4 corpses hanging from a tree. The snowstorm worsens, you can barely see anything. He runs back to his car, determined that Alex really exists. He listens to the tape again and again, not really concentrating on his driving. He gets on the highway in the wrong direction. He listens to the tape again and think he can hear Alex’s voice, a low sound that you only hear if you concentrate enough. He looks up and realises he’s in the exit he usually stops for Alex. He sees a silhouette in the dark and he accelerates. He screams at Alex that he’s going to kill her and he hits her. Eddie then loses control of his car and it flips over a couple of times. Eddie is thrown out of the car through the windshield, he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. He sees a silhouette near him, it’s Alex, smiling at him. He looks over at the body he hit, it was a harmless worker who was closing down the exit due to the snowstorm. Eddie is starting to faint and the last thing he sees is Alex staring at him with a creepy grin on her face.
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