Film

Passengers

Name: Passengers
Genre: Drama, Romance, Science Fiction
Released: 2016
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Andy Garcia

Space opera

A luxury spacecraft bound for a distant colony suffers a catastrophic malfunction, waking two passengers a century too soon. It's a film about isolation, temptation, and whether you'd make an unforgivable choice to save yourself. Visually sumptuous but emotionally complicated—a grown-up sci-fi romance that doesn't let either character off easy.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a lonely-premise romance built on two strong leads, where the glossy spaceship setting is mostly a backdrop for intimacy and moral wobble, and you don't mind the ideas being a little loose.

Skip it if you want hard science or a slow-burn mystery; it leans on glossy spectacle and a tidy, crowd-pleasing shape that can feel like a studio brief rather than a story.

What it asks of you: About two hours, brisk and mostly bright, with a few lonelier stretches that ask you to sit still with one idea rather than chase a dense plot.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Gravity2013

Two people fighting for survival in an unforgiving void, bound by circumstance and slowly building trust. Stunning isolation and a similar meditative intensity about human resilience against cosmic indifference.

But It's deliberately slow and contemplative rather than action-packed, and the emotional stakes are quieter than Passengers.

The Martian2015

That same blend of problem-solving ingenuity, visual spectacle, and human spirit against impossible odds. Plus the underlying loneliness beneath the humour—stranded on a hostile world with only your wits.

But Solitary and functional in tone. There's no real relationship dynamic to carry you, just one man working through checklists.

Interstellar2014

Epic sci-fi that trusts you with complicated emotional stakes and visual grandeur. Explores love and sacrifice across impossible distances with similar sincerity and no irony whatsoever.

But Nearly three hours and baroque in structure. Some people find it overwrought; others find it deeply moving. You'll know which camp you're in early.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Passengers

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Stalker1979

Both are ultimately about the corruption that comes from isolation and desire. One character acts; one doesn't. Both end up broken by their choice.

A journey toward a room that might grant wishes, undertaken by three men who discover their deepest desires terrify them. Like Passengers inverted: instead of acting on temptation, these men face it and hesitate. Tarkovsky's patient, hypnotic sci-fi asking what we're actually willing to become to get what we want.

But Soviet, three hours, dialogue-light, shot at a meditative crawl. This isn't entertainment; it's a demand on your attention that most viewers will resent.

Solaris1972

A spacecraft in orbit around an alien ocean, a skeleton crew, and a mystery that turns inward—about memory, desire, and whether love means anything when tested by the truly unknown.

But Russian, paced like a dirge, more concerned with philosophy than plot. It will bore anyone who didn't come for existential dread.

Elysium2013

Matt Damon caught between self-preservation and sacrifice, in a carefully designed world where every choice has weight. The same tense moral undertow running beneath spectacle.

But The action is generic and the class politics heavy-handed. It's more idea than execution, and some scenes feel like they're selling something.

The Space Between Us2017

Two young people discovering connection across vast emptiness—it wears Passengers' emotional DNA on its sleeve and doubles down on the romance while keeping sci-fi stakes real.

But Often maudlin and occasionally cloying. The plot requires some generous suspension of disbelief about orbital mechanics and biology.

Midnight in Paris2011

Two people displaced in time discovering each other, grappling with whether you can build a life on an impossible situation. A lighter touch, but the core question is similar.

But Wistfully romantic rather than dramatically tense. If you want stakes and conflict, this trades those for whimsy.

The Adam Project2022

Ryan Reynolds trapped with the consequences of his choices, building a relationship under duress across impossible circumstances. It's Passengers' DNA remixed into action-comedy.

But Tries to do too much—comedy, action, family drama, time travel puzzle. Nothing lands as hard as it aims.

Moonlight2016

Two people discovering connection in isolation, with stunning production design and an interior emotional life that's never rushed. A completely different register, but the longing is real.

But Meditative and sensual rather than plot-driven. If you're watching for story momentum, you'll find yourself drifting.

Her2013

Both centre on a relationship built on fundamental dishonesty, where love and manipulation become inseparable. But where Passengers makes that conflict explicit, Her lets you feel it without ever quite naming it.

A man falls in love with an artificial intelligence in a near-future Los Angeles. Like Passengers, it's a love story where one person is fundamentally deceiving the other about what's possible—but here, the question of consent and authenticity takes center stage. Gorgeously designed, quietly devastating.

But Slow, introspective, and asks you to sit with uncomfortable questions about loneliness and projection. Some find it achingly beautiful; others find it depressing and evasive about its own ethics.