Passengers (2008 film)

Passengers is a 2008 American-Canadian romantic mystery thriller film directed by Rodrigo García, written by Ronnie Christensen, and starring Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson. It was released in the United States by TriStar Pictures on October 24, 2008.

Plot
Psychotherapist Claire Summers counsels five survivors of a recent plane crash: passengers Dean, Norman, Shannon, Eric, and flight attendant Janice. Eric, however, seems unusually upbeat after the tragedy. Claire meets with Mr. Arkin, an airline official, to confirm which parts of the survivors' differing recollections about the crash are accurate. Arkin claims pilot error caused the crash. Claire is asked to speak with Eric while he is getting examined at the hospital. She notices Eric's attraction to her, but is suspicious when he reveals personal information about her.

When Dean misses the next session, Norman believes the airline is targeting the surviving passengers to cover up the airline having a history of negligent mechanical failures. The passengers had originally remembered nothing odd happening before the crash, but they start to remember an engine exploding. Later, Claire is conflicted between her role as counselor and growing personal feelings for Eric. A kindly neighbor urges her to take a chance with him.

At the following session, Norman is absent, leaving only Janice and Shannon. Mr. Arkin warns Claire against feeding the airline coverup theory to the remaining survivors. Claire later spends time with Eric on his boat and reciprocates his romantic feelings.

Claire has left several unanswered voice mail messages for her estranged sister, Emma, indicating she wants to reconcile. She goes to Emma's house, but no one seems to be home. Claire then meets another crash survivor and takes him to see Mr. Arkin. The man angrily blames Arkin for the crash, which he denies. The man suddenly disappears, confusing Claire.

Eric notices a dog staring at him from outside, and recognizes the dog as a pet that had died when he was younger. He then returns to the crash site and experiences frightening memories. Meanwhile, Shannon is the only one at the next session. Eric arrives and Claire takes him and Shannon to her apartment. Eric believes he died in the crash. To prove it, he claims he jumped in front of a train and survived uninjured; he tells Claire to leave him alone.

When Shannon disappears, a neighbor says she left with a man and woman. Claire goes to her supervisor who is convinced she has latched onto the conspiracy theory. At Emma's house, Claire sees Mr. Arkin, who says pilot error caused the crash. Arkin departs but leaves his briefcase behind. Claire becomes hysterical after finding a ledger inside listing all the passengers, including her, who died in the crash. Mr. Arkin was the pilot.

Claire finds Eric on his boat. He explains that he withheld telling her that they and the other passengers died in the crash because everyone had to discover it individually. Deceased people and even pets from their pasts (unrecognized by the recently deceased) helped them to understand and accept death. The people Claire spoke to (including her aunt, the kindly neighbor) were dead friends or relatives. She and Eric sail from the harbor to cross over to heaven.

A flashback shows Claire and Eric in adjacent seats on the plane, along with the other passengers and crew. During the flight, Claire and Eric develop an attraction. When the plane depressurizes, Eric assures her they will be alright just before the screen fades to white.

The film ends with the landlord letting Emma and her husband into Claire's apartment. Emma finds a note Claire was planning to send to make peace with her.

Cast

 * Anne Hathaway as Claire Summers
 * Patrick Wilson as Eric Clark
 * Clea DuVall as Shannon
 * Andre Braugher as Perry Jackson
 * Chelah Horsdal as Janice
 * David Morse as Arkin
 * Dianne Wiest as Toni
 * William B. Davis as Eric's grandfather
 * Ryan Robbins as Dean
 * Don Thompson as Norman
 * Brad Turner as Shannon's father
 * Claire Smithies as Shannon's mother

Music
The film's score is composed by Edward Shearmur.
 * 1) "The Wreckage"
 * 2) "Group Therapy"
 * 3) "House Call"
 * 4) "What Do You Remember?"
 * 5) "Norman"
 * 6) "At the Museum"
 * 7) "Giving Eric the Key"
 * 8) "Eric at Midnight"
 * 9) "Arkin"
 * 10) "Rooftop"
 * 11) "Motorcycle Fix"
 * 12) "Norman's House"
 * 13) "Eric Remembers"
 * 14) "Porch"
 * 15) "Epiphany"
 * 16) "At Peace"
 * 17) "End Titles"

Box office
Passengers was released in 125 theaters on October 24, 2008 in United States and Canada and earned $173,544 on the opening weekend. The film grossed a total of $5,787,152: $292,437 from domestic location and $5,494,715 from overseas locations.

Critical response
The film received generally negative critical reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 19% approval rating based on 31 reviews, with an average score of 4.05/10. By comparison, Metacritic reports a score of 40 out of 100 based on 8 reviews.