The Passenger

Characters best creatures in Spanish sci-fi horror flick.

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Spanish horror flick “The Passenger” (available in select theaters beginning Friday, June 3 and on VOD Tuesday, June 28) actually works best when it’s not actively engaging in the horrific.

Rideshare driver Blasco (Ramiro Blas, “[REC] 4: Apocalypse”) already has a passenger in Mariela (Cecilia Suárez of the 2021 Netflix movie “This Is Not a Comedy”) when he picks up Lidia (Cristina Alcázar) and her daughter Marta (Paula Gallego). Mother and daughter have beef as Lidia’s dumping Marta with her father to pursue a professional opportunity. The women don’t take too kindly to the antiquated Blasco nor his crummy van (it’s got a cassette stuck in the tape deck), which he’s cheekily dubbed Vanessa.

Things go sideways when Blasco accidentally strikes pedestrian Coco (Yao Yao) with Vanessa. He’s inclined to leave her on the side of the road. The women insist he take her to a hospital. Blasco relents, but unbeknownst to him and his passengers Coco’s infected with an alien parasite. All hell breaks loose.