Overview
A journalist's quest for truth leads him down a perilous path of deception and danger.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- hypnotic
- austere
- melancholic
- contemplative evening
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a hypnotic, visually extraordinary existential thriller whose formal ambition and performances outweigh its deliberately slow pace and sparse narrative.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
David Locke assumes the dead gunrunner's passport and life, allowing the plot to explore escape through impersonation.
The Sahara, European hotels, churches, and urban spaces are rendered as beautiful but emotionally dislocated environments.
The identity chase unfolds through patient pacing, elliptical tension, and Antonioni's sustained visual compositions.
Locke's deliberate disappearance from his former life embodies the desire to escape personal history and responsibility.
Films like The Passenger, and why
The Passenger
shared themes of identity, alienation, and existential escape within an enigmatic European art-thriller structure
Blow-Up
shared art-house mystery, psychological displacement, and visually composed European settings
The American Friend
shared themes of identity transformation, alienation, and contemplative international travel
Professione: Reporter
shared slow-burn existential thriller atmosphere, identity instability, and striking landscapes
Movie Details
- Director
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Release Date
- 1975-02-28
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (564)
Cast
- Jack Nicholson
- Maria Schneider
- Jenny Runacre
- Ian Hendry
- Steven Berkoff
- Ambroise Mbia
- José María Caffarel
- James Campbell
- Manfred Spies
- Jean-Baptiste Tiémélé
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
- Buy
- Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Passenger about?
- A disillusioned journalist steps into a dead gunrunner’s identity and drifts through a beautiful, perilous maze of escape and self-erasure.
- What is The Passenger like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Passenger as slow, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Passenger violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Passenger as mild.
- What did critics think of The Passenger?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a hypnotic, visually extraordinary existential thriller whose formal ambition and performances outweigh its deliberately slow pace and sparse narrative.
- Which films are like The Passenger?
- Films with a similar feel include The Passenger, Blow-Up, The American Friend, and Professione: Reporter.
- How long is The Passenger?
- The Passenger runs 126 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Passenger?
- In United States, The Passenger streams on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads.
