Passenger v Backrooms (article)

Published by Mason Oldridge, 29 August 2026

Earlier this spring back in May, two supernatural horror films were released just one week apart from each other. But which is the best of the two?

Passenger

Passenger follows young couple Tyler and Maddie on their van life adventure, who are followed and terrorised by a demonic entity called the Passenger.

The film opens with two young men driving through the woods at night. When they pull over, one of them is attacked by the Passenger, prompting the other to drive off terrified. Tyler and Maddie later stop at the scene when they discover the other man crashed in the trees. However, it is here where and when the Passenger latches onto them and begins his sadistic campaign.

Maddie grows suspicious when the three claw marks on the crashed car appear on their van and, throughout the film, sees and is attacked by the Passenger.

Diana proves to be a pivotal character to the story as she is the one who educates the naive couple on the legend of the Passenger. They learn that he preys on travellers as well as the rule to never drive at night and, if you do, don’t stop. They are also told of the rumour that a traveller once survived the Passenger by entering the lost Church of St Christopher.

All good horror films of this storyline sees its characters learn of such evil and then attempt to defeat such evil and Passenger executes that successfully as Tyler and Maddie head off in search of the mysterious holy land. The film cleverly introduces the theme of religion here as the anti-religious figure can only be defeated by a polar opposite religious figure, similar to the idea of good versus evil.

The film culminates in an epic finale in which Maddie must fight the Passenger herself, following his attack on Tyler. She determinedly rams the Passenger into the statue of St Christopher, impaling and killing him in a truly badass moment. In the closing scene, Tyler and Maddie are reunited, feeling happy and freed, and watch the church go up in flames as emergency services descend on the scene.

The film also succeeds at producing jumpscares of the highest order. Even when predictable, they still manage to startle every time. Furthermore, even after the initial shock, they continue to terrify with the chilling appearance of the Passenger, which can be examined more closely as he continues to appear on screen. The later and more prolonged showing of him reveals just how scary he actually looks, earning the makeup team much praise.

Passenger is a straightforward yet entertaining story of which its narrative is as strong as its atmosphere and themes.

Backrooms

Backrooms incorporates elements of science fiction and psychological horror and is based on the creepypasta internet legend and subsequent web series of the same name. It follows struggling furniture store owner Clark, who discovers an extradimensional liminal space of seemingly endless and distorted yellow rooms and corridors with fluorescent humbuzz lights in the basement.

In the opening scene, a researcher explores the Backrooms in 1990, presented as found footage. Chased by an unseen entity, he frantically attempts to escape, but is attacked. 

Clark is troubled by his alcoholism and the breakdown of his marriage, attending therapy sessions with his therapist Mary, who herself is struggling with trauma from the demolition of her childhood home.

One night, Clark goes to check on the breaker box in the basement when the lights start flickering and he notices a glow in the wall, falling through it and finding himself in the Backrooms. He slowly explores the space, but returns to the store when he is chased by an unseen entity.

He tells Mary about his discovery, but she doesn’t believe him. He takes his assistant manager Kat and her videographer boyfriend Bobby with him into the Backrooms to film proof to show Mary, but Bobby falls down a steep corridor and is dragged away by an unseen entity; Clark and Kat follow in an attempt to rescue him.

When Mary receives a concerning voicemail from Clark, she goes to the store to check on him and enters the Backrooms herself. This is where things get really weird. Cue unexpected and graphic acts of violence, chilling imitations of characters and haunting humanoid creatures.

The setting is easily the best aspect of the film. The Backrooms are truly eerie, with their maze-like formation utterly terrifying and their sickening inhabitants making the place all the more horrifying. The producers could’ve easily cheaped out here by revealing the Backrooms to be a figment of characters’ imaginations as a representation of their psychological state, but they don’t. Instead, the Backrooms exist and are very real, uniquely designed and expertly crafted as a place of nightmares.

Another disturbing element that elevates this unsettling tale is the Async scientists. Little is known about the Async Research Institute other than that they used to produce MRI machines before discovering the Backrooms and switching their primary research focus. 

The way that Phil monitors the situation on surveillance equipment with such emotionless expression adds a whole new layer of creepiness to this warped world.

Overall, the premise is brilliant, but the plot becomes somewhat confusing. It is a wise choice to leave unknowns about the Backrooms to keep them more mysterious and incomprehensible, though the storyline becomes really messy from the point of Mary’s entrance. Perhaps if the events later on were explained a bit more clearer, it could have maintained its strength throughout.

On the whole, both films offer up a convincing concept. Where Passenger is simple as opposed to the complexity of Backrooms, only Passenger tells its story with a confident grasp on its angle across its entirety. Therefore, Passenger edges Backrooms as the better of the two as an exceptionally fun experience to watch.