Release: The Passageway

 

The Passageway

Genre: Horror/Mystery/Thriller

Director: Sam Esmail

Writer: DK Moon

An Unspoken Words Production

Based on the graphic novel The Passageway: A Bone Orchard Mythos

Cast: Rami Malek, Frances McDormand, David Denman, Alice Kremelberg

Budget: $33,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $24,790,055

Foreign Box Office: $22,272,000

Total Profit: -$15,100,001

Reaction: Not an ideal debut for Moon, but also not such a catastrophic loss that affects the season as a whole. 

"The Passageway is an eerie piece of horror, elevated by its imagery. Director Sam Esmail heavily into mood and ambiguity, crafting several genuinely unnerving sequences. Rami Malek is strong as a man quietly unraveling, though the film occasionally disappears too deeply into symbolism at the expense of clarity. Still, horror fans looking for something strange and melancholy will find plenty to admire." - Reggie Moreland, Baltimore Sun

"The Passageway mistakes obscurity for intelligence, burying what could have been an effective grief-horror story beneath layers of cryptic imagery and frustratingly vague mythology. The film repeatedly hints at something profound lurking beneath the surface, only to retreat into dream logic and unanswered questions that feel more evasive than haunting. Rami Malek commits fully, but even he can’t anchor a story so determined to withhold clarity or momentum." - Cooper Wilson, The Earl Hays Press

"A visually striking but uneven psychological horror that leans too heavily on mood at the expense of substance. The coastal setting and imagery are undeniably effective, with flashes of genuinely unsettling ideas, particularly the concept of the sea as memory and return. However, the film struggles to anchor itself in character. John feels distant and underdeveloped, making it difficult to connect emotionally with his descent. The narrative drifts rather than builds, prioritizing poetic abstraction over clear progression, and the repetition of motifs dulls their impact. While there’s clear ambition and a strong aesthetic sensibility, it often feels like the film is trying to sound haunting rather than earning it." - Simon Reeves, Honolulu Highlights

Rated R for disturbing violent content and language