Road trip-focused horror films have long been a staple in the genre. Some of the most iconic include “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974), “Dead End” (2003), “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977), “Road Games” (1981), “Wolf Creek” (2005) and the “Wrong Turn” series, as well as “The Hitcher.” Now, you can add André Øvredal’s 2026 film “Passenger” to the growing list of essential road trip horror.
Øvredal has built an impressive resume. His work includes directing such modern classics as “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” (2023), “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” (2019), “The Autopsy of Jane Doe” (2016) and “Troll Hunter” (2010). He’s also produced several horror gems, including Iris K. Shim’s 2022 feature “Umma.”
‘Passenger’ is Now Streaming
“Passenger” officially hit PVOD on July 7, 2026. Considering it is a Paramount Pictures release, it will hit Paramount+ later this year. A street date for the streaming service has not yet been announced.
Around the theatrical release (May 22, 2026), the director spoke about how the road trip film dives into the collective “lore and the feeling that it creates,” he told the Motion Picture Association, “whether you’re driving across some mountain range in Norway or you’re in the deserts of Middle America. We all drive cars, we move around and go on long road trips, and there is so much that is unknown in front of you. If you drive for days, there will always be an incident of some kind, but you hope it’s not like this.”
“Passenger” saw an $8.7 million domestic opening weekend and eventually grossed $18 million domestically and a $31.5 million globally. The production budget was $15 million.
‘Passenger’ Captures Fear of Backroads
“Passenger” follows a young couple, Tyler (Jacob Scipio) and Maddie (Lou Llobell), after they witness a car accident. When they drive away, they aren’t alone. A dark entity latches itself onto them and tortures them as they attempt to escape the woods.
Zachary Donohue (“The Den”) and T.W. Burgess penned the script, rooted in Donohue’s own fear of driving at night on backroads. Growing up, he and his mom broke down and had to hike back to their secluded home. That experience stuck with him. He also pulled from his love of “the ghost stories and folklore that we attribute to certain roads all around the country,” he told Cinema Crazed. When writing out his idea, he wanted “to make all the roads haunted by one thing… something bigger than a ghost, more unknowable,” he added.
“Passenger” joins Alex Ullom’s “It Ends” as the year’s signature road trip horror films. Both films feature young people who endure the terror that only backroads can supply. The films contrast one another in tone and approach; “Passenger” focuses strictly on nighttime, whereas “It Ends” blends both times of day but primarily zeroes in on daylight in a “Midsommar” way.
With “Passenger” finally hitting VOD, it will certainly strike fear in a new wave of viewers.
