The Passenger

PG

Released Feb 28, 1975

1 hr. 59 min.

Drama

List

88%

78 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

David Locke (Jack Nicholson) is a world-weary American journalist who has been sent to cover a conflict in northern Africa, but he makes little progress with the story. When he discovers the body of a stranger who looks similar to him, Locke assumes the dead man's identity. However, he soon finds out that the man was an arms dealer, leading Locke into dangerous situations. Aided by a beautiful woman (Maria Schneider), Locke attempts to avoid both the police and criminals out to get him.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Apr 16

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Buy The Passenger on Fandango at Home.

Critics Consensus

Antonioni's classic, a tale of lonely, estranged characters on a journey though the mysterious landscapes of identity, shimmers with beauty and uncertainty.

Read Critics Reviews

Quoc T

A classic. They don't make films like this one anymore. One of Nicholson's best 5 films! The last 5 minute ending is incredible. This film made me love the art of cinema. When I watched this film I realized the Antonioni was a genius. He was an impressionist who threw all the colors/paint together and out came a masterpiece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/10/23

Full Review

G M

Ok, it's an Antonioni film. Ok Jack is great. Ok you can "read" the alienation... but where is the plot?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/03/22

Full Review

Shioka O

This is good. Antonioni again featured emptiness of journalism by using English speaking people. I like the plot and Nicholson's performance in this, his presence in Europe created good chemistry. As this film has less dialog and almost no thrills, it can be boring to see, but the great cinematography saved it all.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/02/22

Full Review

isla s

This seemed, to me, to be a pretty uneventful film that didn't really appeal to me. I feel bad for saying that, as I'm quite keen to try to follow films with interesting, winding plots but this just didn't grab me or engross me at all. I felt a bit confused as to what exactly was going on ocassionally and a fair number of scenes seemed to have little happening. I know this is a generally well regarded film and I imagine it appeals to some people but I watched it twice, the 2nd time trying to understand it better, to pay more attention but still it left me feeling a bit confused and disinterested. The main character, Locke, is somewhat mysterious in his manner and there are the ocassional pieces of good dialogue but it just felt lacking to me, so I couldn't really get myself to give it any higher than a 3 star rating. Maybe I just didn't 'get' it, I feel others may well enjoy it more than I did but it was distinctly average overall in my eyes.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

dave s

Journalist David Locke (Jack Nicholson) finds himself in northern Africa conducting research on Chadian guerrillas as they attempt to overthrow the government. Deeply dissatisfied with his life, he assumes the identity of a casual acquaintance, an arms dealer, who he finds dead in a hotel room. With The Passenger, director Michelangelo Antonioni turns what could have been a typical political thriller into something entirely different – an existential examination of identity and self. Luciano Tovoli's cinematography effectively captures the vast and arid expanses of Chad and Spain, mirroring the emptiness of Locke's life. Brilliant throughout, Antonioni finishes things with a remarkable, almost seven minute uninterrupted take that speaks to everything that great cinema should aspire to.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A masterpiece and one of Jack Nicholsons greatest performances as a man who switches identity with another man and us dragged into a world of intrigue This being Antonioni there is more to the story than just that. The film is beautiful and typical of one of the great master directors if all time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/22

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Michelangelo Antonioni

Director

Jack Nicholson

David Locke

Maria Schneider

Girl

Jenny Runacre

Rachel Locke

Ian Hendry

Martin Knight

Steven Berkoff

Stephen

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

93%

80%

The Story of Adele H

39%

47%

The Great Gatsby

TRAILER

for The Great Gatsby

60%

58%

Executive Action

88%

72%

Time After Time

94%

92%

All the President's Men

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

David Robinson

Times (UK)

It is one of those very risky pieces of virtuosity which tend inevitably to distract the mind to questions of how it's done; but it's still beautiful.

Oct 12, 2023

Full Review

Derek Malcolm

Guardian

It is essentially an internal drama traversing a moral hinterland whose only real location is the soul. And its triumph is that, in externalising this troubled journey, the film so seldom trivialises it.

Oct 11, 2023

Full Review

Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

The Passenger is almost a masterpiece. Almost? That's because the plot, a thrillerish tangle about swapped identity in a menacing foreign country, begs for the pen of Patricia Highsmith.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 2, 2019

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

It is, first scene to last, a “film” not a movie, “cinema” and not “content.”

Rated: 3/4

Mar 12, 2024

Full Review

Russell Davies

Observer (UK)

Nicholson is cast almost willfully against type -- the idea of existential pain actually appearing on that sharp face seems improbable from the start -- but it works far better than at first I feared.

Oct 11, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

The haunting drama is classic Antonioni, an existential quest for identity in an alienating world, and the cryptic plot and mysterious sense of emptiness plays even better with the remove of time.

Oct 5, 2023

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

David Locke (Jack Nicholson) is a world-weary American journalist who has been sent to cover a conflict in northern Africa, but he makes little progress with the story. When he discovers the body of a stranger who looks similar to him, Locke assumes the dead man's identity. However, he soon finds out that the man was an arms dealer, leading Locke into dangerous situations. Aided by a beautiful woman (Maria Schneider), Locke attempts to avoid both the police and criminals out to get him.

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Executive Producer: Alessandro von Norman
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Les Films Concordia, Compagnia Cinematografica Champion
Rating: PG (Some Violence|Nudity|Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 28, 1975, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Oct 28, 2005
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $619.7K
Sound Mix: Surround

Most Popular at Home Now