PASSENGERS

CONTAINS AS LITTLE IN THE WAY OF SPOILERS AS I CAN POSSIBLY MANAGE

This is one of those movies that wants to capture the slow-burning buildup to the Big Reveal in the last ten minutes that forces you to re-evaluate everything you've just seen, in the manner of The Sixth Sense. Passengers doesn't entirely manage it - for one thing it rather plays its hand with the tagline on the DVD artwork - but it's still a more than acceptable rental for the evening.

Ostensibly detailing what happens to a group of air crash survivors and their young grief consellor (Anne Hathaway), it gradually becomes clear that that's not what's going on at all, and the myster deepens as she develops an unethical relationship with one of the survivors even as the rest of her group start to disappear. Is there a conspiracy designed to shield the airline from blame? Was it really pilot error? And what's the significance of the dog?

My desire to not reveal more about what's really happening rather leaves me with a reduced word count, but I can say it's got a strong cast (familiar faces include Andre Braugher, Dianne Wiest and David Morse), it's beautifully shot, and it's absorbing and interesting without being exciting or thrilling. On the other hand I don't believe Anne Hathaway as a top grief counsellor - she's only 26 and looks it. I suspect it's one of those movies that you watch for a second time and all the clues are there but you just didn't notice them. It's certainly worth one watch.

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