Djimon Hounsou & Kodi Smit-McPhee in Tense ‘The Passenger’ Trailer

by Alex Billington
June 1, 2026
Source: YouTube

“I’m just a guy driving a van, I’m not the enemy.” Vertical / Paramount have debuted the official trailer for an indie thriller titled The Passenger, arriving to watch on VOD directly at the end of this week. It seems like they’re trying to dump this and forget about it. Not to be confused with the 2023 thriller film with Kyle Gallner also titled The Passenger as well, or any other similar title like the recent horror Passenger. Djimon Hounsou plays a struggling airport shuttle driver in Minneapolis who decides to illegally take a stranded 20-something passenger to Chicago. But he soon finds himself trapped in a terrifying ride he can’t escape. His passenger is not who he seems, apparently very angry and now on the run from a bad attack at the airport. Directed by Vadim Perelmen, this is based on the 2016 play “Damascus” by Bennett Fisher, who also wrote the script. Starring Djimon Hounsou and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Even with these two very talented actors, this certainly does look like a very forgettable (and entirely obvious) thriller we all can safely skip right over.

Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Vadim Perelman’s film The Passenger, direct from YouTube:

This edge-of-your-seat thriller follows a Somali-American airport driver who, in a desperate attempt to make ends meet, agrees to transport a mysterious passenger from Minneapolis to Chicago. However, he realizes his passenger is not who he seems, trapping him in a terrifying situation that he can’t escape. The Passenger is directed by the Ukranian filmmaker Vadim Perelman, director of House of Sand and Fog, The Life Before Her Eyes, Yolki 5, Buy Me, and Persian Lessons previously, plus the series “Propavshaya” most recently. The screenplay is written by Bennett Fisher. Produced by Cary Davies, Norman Golightly, Sean Harner, Jib Polhemus. This hasn’t premiered at any festivals or elsewhere, as far as we know. Vertical debuts Perelman’s The Passenger in select US theaters + on VOD starting on June 5th, 2026 coming soon.

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