The Passenger (2023), directed by Carter Smith, is an intriguing film, to say the least. It pairs up a frustratingly passive human adult, Randy, with a man who is also psychotic in his nonchalance towards violence, Benson, as the two drive around in Benson’s car after they leave their workplace. You should check out the Blumhouse Project, The Passenger (2023), because it plays out the complexities of the human psyche to comment on violence and what perpetrates it in the world. It is a fairly simple story, but the psychological connotations may be mind-boggling. Hence, wear your seat belts and let us decode the film for you. Beware, spoilers ahead!
The Passenger (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The Passenger (2023) opens with our protagonist, Randy Bradley (played by Johnny Berchtold), locked in a haunting dream. In this chilling vision, he sees a young boy forced to witness a woman bleeding from her eyes right before him. The nightmarish scene jolts Randy awake, leaving him visibly shaken as he prepares to leave for his shift at a local burger joint. We learn soon after that he has been working there for a year now. The manager of the store, impressed with his dutifulness, is ready to refer him to another establishment for a manager position, a prospect that fills Randy with genuine elation and anticipation.
When he and his colleagues are scrubbing away the place before the joint opens to customers, we find Randy struggling to stand up to the colleague who bullies him, calling him names and daring him to eat a day-old cheeseburger because Randy protested against Chris’ boisterous fun. Randy clearly struggles to assert himself – a characteristic that immediately renders him an unlikely fit for a managerial position, and he shall go on to define his actions throughout the rest of the movie.
Although Randy tries to protest, he ultimately decides to give in and eat the spoiled food to prevent any confrontation with Chris. Meanwhile, another colleague, Benson (played by Kyle Gallner), observes these events as he scrubs the restaurant floor. Unable to stand the disrespect they subject Randy to, he interjects and urges Chris to stop bothering Randy. Chris, instead, threatens Benson, whose simmering anger topples over.
Benson calmly exits the restaurant, retrieves a gun from his car trunk, and, in a chillingly composed act, fatally shoots Chris, followed by Jess and the restaurant manager. Contemplating Randy as another potential victim because he witnessed the crime, Benson ultimately decides against it, perceiving the latter to be no threat to him.
Disposing of the bodies in a meat closet and meticulously erasing traces of the gruesome act with Randy’s reluctant assistance, Benson takes Randy hostage as he decides to drive around for 7 hours until the police will set out in search of them. Benson, a reckless and violent guy, also promises to toughen Randy up as a man in the course of the day. Still reeling from the incident, Benson and Randy first stop to eat at a diner.
Benson places an order for a western omelet while he asks the waitress to pick out a cinnamon bun for Randy. Here, Benson starts to discover new things about Randy – for example, his real name is Randy and not Bradley; Bradley was only his last name that was mistakenly put on his name tag at the restaurant. Once out of the diner, they drive to Benson’s house, where the latter’s mother questions Randy about the blood stains on his shirt. At one point, Benson tells Randy to stay put in his position in the drawing room while he is away for some reason inside the house.
At this moment, Benson’s mother asks Randy for the telephone, who, on repeated insistence, goes to fetch the phone but is threatened by Benson to only work according to his instructions. It only makes sense that Randy is afraid, and even if he may have contemplated seeking help or running away when he spotted a police car or stopped at a gas station, he could not bring himself to ultimately act upon these decisions.
Next, Randy opens up about how his only relationship ended – his ex-girlfriend left him after her cat died. So Benson drives him to the mall, where Lisa works, and makes him confront her about the breakup. Lisa opens up about how she was affected by Randy’s inability to react to anything, from the death of her cat to their breakup. It was Randy’s indifference that led her to think that Randy was disinterested in the relationship.
When they are leaving the mall, Randy’s mother calls, and we see him react with a sense of fear and submissiveness. Soon, he opens up about the childhood incident that plagues him to date – the accident in second grade that made his teacher lose an eye. Benson now drives to Randy’s school to learn about the whereabouts of Miss Beard, Randy’s second-grade teacher, so that Randy can confront her as well.
While leaving the school, they meet a certain Mr. Sheppard, whom Benson recognizes. Although it is not revealed why Benson is enraged at the sight of this person, we find Benson cruelly attacking him outside the school building before driving off to Miss Beard’s house.
Once at Miss Beard’s house, Randy comes to learn that Miss Beard is now a divorced single mother; she holds no grudge against him for the accident, acknowledging that she would have been angry at him ten years ago but has come to realize that everything happens for the better. When Miss Beard and Benson are not around, Randy steals a cell phone kept on the table in front of him (probably Miss Beard’s).
Miss Beard is grateful for Randy’s decision to visit her and apologize to her for the horrific tragedy. This conversation makes Randy feel much better about himself. Benson comes back from the washroom, and they are preparing to leave when things go south, and the trio rushes toward the final act of the movie.
What incident was Randy involved in during his childhood?
The film opens with a young boy sitting and staring at a woman who is shrieking and holding her hand up to her eyes. We quickly figure out that she is bleeding profusely from her eyes. This is the memory that Randy still vividly remembers from his days as a second grader when he had used a makeshift slingshot to throw an eraser at his class teacher, Miss Beard, because she accused him of being a naughty child. In his defense, other boys in the class were involved in the same mischief. However, the eraser hit her eye hard and had some lead fragments. So Miss Beard underwent eye surgery and ultimately lost one eye. The trauma of this incident and the consequences of the same has shaped Randy as an adult.
What is The Passenger (2023) about?
The Passenger (2023) looks at violence from opposite ends of the spectrum, giving us a character who perpetrates violence and one who silently bears it in the form of Benson and Randy, respectively. Benson possesses and yields a gun whenever he needs an upper hand in a situation. He is unafraid of shooting someone dead, no matter its repercussions because he believes that having a gun and being able to use it gives him the power to unleash violence. It was, according to him, the key to resolution.
On the other hand, Randy belongs to the category of people who’d rather stay subdued than protest against the wrongs committed against them. He is willfully ready to accept his position as the powerless so that other people can have the upper hand. This dichotomy presents us with a set of complex human behaviors revolving around the notion of power, forcing us to look into how we respond to power (or the lust for it) and the social and moral implications of (mis)using power.
Why does Randy not try to escape from Benson?
Randy is a docile person who keeps from reacting to any situation to avoid violence or confrontation. All this is, of course, a result of one childhood incident that has left a deep impression on him. Randy is the kind of human being who’d rather do something unacceptable, like eating a day-old cheeseburger, than stand up for himself. As a result, it becomes easy for Benson, who yields gun power, to command Randy around. Although Randy sees multiple opportunities where he could run or escape Benson’s grasp during the road travel, he doesn’t avail of the option only because he is afraid of the consequences that his action might bring along.
The Passenger (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
What Happens to Benson in the End?
Before Benson and Randy are about to exit Miss Beard’s house, the latter receives a disturbing call. Miss Beard tells them that someone violently attacked their Vice Principal, Elliot Sheppard, outside the school, who passed away before the ambulance could take him to the hospital. The news is evidently distressing for Miss Beard, who asks Randy whether he has seen someone at the school since they were there just before they came to her place.
While pretending to feel sorry for Sheppard’s death, Benson reveals his bloody knuckles, immediately alerting Miss Beard. Benson also realizes that Miss Beard may have guessed who the perpetrator of the crime was. Hence, he threatens her with a gun and takes her hostage as well.
When Miss Beard tries to ask Benson why he had taken them hostage, he behaves rudely and asks her to keep shut. This is when Randy tells Benson that he has to use the washroom. After coercing him for a while, Benson stops the car at the diner they had visited earlier that morning. He says Randy could visit the washroom only when he had finished placing an order for their meal.
When Benson finally lets Randy go to the washroom (with the warning that he should not take more than 2 minutes), the latter hurries to the washroom and dials 911, reporting that they are at the Kutzberg Diner and there was a man with a gun who was a potential threat to safety. The audience will realize that the character of Randy, who is indecisive and passive throughout the movie, has finally taken action – one that Benson has been bullying him to take since the morning.
Back at the table, the waitress from the morning seems to be creating a scene and telling Benson to leave the diner. In another moment of rage, Benson shoots the waitress in her leg and threatens the remaining staff. While he is at it, he hears the police siren and desperately asks who is responsible for informing the police.
Assuming it must have been Miss Beard, Benson aims to fire at Miss Beard. But Randy sweeps in to protect her, and the bullet hits Randy in the shoulder. Benson panics and rushes to help Randy when the latter tells him that it was he who informed the police. Upon learning the same, Benson gives up his violent demeanor and decides to walk out of the diner. He aims to shoot at the police, who immediately shoots him dead.
In the end, we see Randy babysitting Miss Beard’s daughter. Perhaps the whole incident has helped Randy get over the traumatic childhood incident that had deeply impacted him. The film ends with a shot of the stuffed crocodile that Benson had helped make at the toy store earlier on the day of the incident, reminding us that he is the reason why normalcy has now been restored in the lives of Miss Beard and Randy.
