This movie doesn't quite succeed. It's worth about two (maybe two and half stars), but not much more. It gets credit for building a little suspense, and a little for pulling at the heart strings at the end of the movie - but not because of the "love story" element which seems forced and really - irrelevant. Claire's relationship with her sister is what really matters in this context it but doesn't get the kind of time needed in the movie to strengthen the viewer's emotional investment in that relationship. A glaring flaw is the notion that Claire (played by Anne Hathaway) who has two Masters degrees and a PhD in psychology is also someone who lacks self-awareness: that premise makes little sense. Apparently the writer (as revealed in the blu-ray Special Features) doesn't quite know or even care what the basic stages of grief are ("anger, or denial, or whatever."). A minimum amount of actual research about psychology might have been a small help to this very amateurish movie script. We are supposed to accept that this brilliant woman is so afraid of taking risks and goes through a transformation of some kind, but it doesn't really work. She is portrayed as overly cautious - for example - she chooses to wear a life vest on a boat - but then when she jumps in the water to "save" Eric - the life jacket simply disappears for no reason at all - other than so the two can kiss: and that is the basic problem with the movie. Things don't flow together; everything appears to be re-written scene after scene, as if the movie wasn't sure what it was going to become next. This movie doesn't really work for a variety of reasons. [SPOILERS ahead, but it doesn't matter, does it?] The movie fails in comparison to other movies that succeeded in a similar theme, notably "The Sixth Sense" and "Ghost." I was very curious to see this movie based on the the reviews of others, but was very disappointed. It's just not that good. It's very poorly written, poorly directed, poorly edited, and although the performance of every member of the cast was very good, their collective effort wasn't enough to save this movie from an absolute thumbs down.

I really liked this movie a lot! I did not expect it to be this good--it's part paranormal Sci/Fi & part moving/inspirational/ thought-provoking. This had suspense in it, keeps you interested throughout the movie! I also love how it has a lot of meaning in it towards the end, a movie that will make you think. Loved it! Definitely recommend, the trailer does not do it justice, it was so much better! Watch it!

I get that ratings and reviews are very subjective, but seriously... how in the hell does this average at 4.5 stars? Have so many people lost all sense of critical thinking skills?

The movie had a lot of promise, but it simply didn't deliver. Apparently, most people think that a cool plot twist (which in this case is neither a true surprise nor original) is enough to give it high marks. Meanwhile, the writing was so mostly banal that even four high-level actors couldn't elevate it to an engaging story.

Here's why this movie doesn't deserve 4 or 5 stars:

NON-SPOILER POINTS

— Fundamentally, the pace and structure of the story are uneven. We're handed some interestingly suspicious points (disappearing survivors!) only to be diverted away to a dumb "love story." It's often as if the director isn't sure what kind of film he wants this to be.

— Claire (the main character) is supposed to be a therapist with two master's degrees and just short of a PhD. She's been assigned to work on the trauma of the survivors of a plane crash, meaning she should be at a very high level of competency in her profession. And yet she has ZERO ethical and relationship boundaries from the instant she meets Eric in his hospital room, agreeing right away to counsel him *at his home* and ultimately having sex with him after only a few meetings. The argument in favor of this is presumably that he has strong feelings for him. But (a) a professional therapist would recuse herself from this situation if she couldn't manage it appropriately, and (b) the movie does a terrible job of making her seem *that* into him. To the extent that it does, it's as if it was written by a teenager.

— Claire is supposed to be risk-averse and drifting in her life too much due to this. However, this is remarkably unevolved for someone who's been through the level of psychological education and training she has. Yes, counselors and therapists have their unresolved stuff... but they are *aware* and work on it, which Claire seems absolutely clueless about. She just walks around sighing all the time in frustration. Weak, weak, weak! On top of this, she makes a point of wearing a life vest at one point but contradictorily rides a motorcycle with no helmet and climbs a 4-story exterior ladder on a building.

— Eric is played just okay by the actor (can't remember his name). But overall, he's very unconvincing, and considering the interplay between him and Claire, the chemistry is very bland. If she's going to fall for him and effectively risk her professional status, the chemistry needs to be 100%. Instead, he seems creepy for the most part (as she even says at one point when he shows up at her door in the middle of the night), and mostly he seems uninteresting. The set-up is terrible.

— The "love story" between Eric and Claire takes up WAY TOO MUCH of the movie. The thing is only 90 minutes long, and yet it seems like their story takes half of it. The much more interesting aspect is the mystery of the suspiciously disappearing passengers — the movie title, after all! — and yet this gets little attention until very late. On top of this, Claire's biggest character motivation and backstory is her relationship with her sister, Emma, but which likewise gets very little real attention. Instead, we're just bludgeoned with the boring and bland back-and-forth of Claire and Eric.

SPOILER POINTS

— Somehow Claire's boss is her third-grade teacher, and yet she has zero recognition of him? Not even an expression of vague familiarity? But yet he was important enough in her life that he came back later to guide her. This makes no sense. If I saw my third-grade teacher right now, all these decades later, I'd recognize her in a second. But let's say I'm not typical... I still think most people would express at least a little recognition. Granted, Claire is supposed to have worked for this guy for some time, but good creative foreshadowing would have her drop a hint during the movie. In other words, not so much her actually expressing recognition, but an expression of it in a way that we the audience remember it later.

— The train passes right through Eric, but yet a few moments before that, the bus driver sees him and stops. Is he a spirit or not? Well, he is, we know... but then why did the bus driver see him? Makes no sense. (Earlier, a car driver did as well, but this was briefly shown to be another spirit.)

— Are we supposed to believe that all those people in the big airport confrontation were also spirits? If not, then how did they see Claire, the passenger, and the pilot? If so, then why did this all happen? The holes are numerous.

— Really, why are any of these spirits going about so much business in the material world? In that scene, the pilot is going through security to go somewhere. Spirits are driving cars and motorcycles, making phone calls, and folding laundry. Other than to serve the purpose of the movie, it seems senseless.

This movie personally left me with questions. Questions about my own life, inevitable death and the years in between. I agree with another reviewer, you definitely will want to watch it at least twice. There are subtle clues throughout that you will miss during the first viewing. I enjoyed this film immensely and rate it as one of my favorites and I don't say that often. Glad I bought it instead of renting, as I usually do.

From the beginning you know something is up. A plane crashes and the survivors tell a different story than the one the airline tells. Is the airline covering something up? Are the passengers incorrectly remembering the events? And who is the strange man that follows survivors around? Even stranger, why is one survivor euphoric after his brutal experience? The cast delivers and the end will give you a bit of a sniffle. I would recommend you see it.

This movie reminded me of "Fearless" with Jeff Bridges, which was about a survivor of the real DC-10 crash in Sioux City, Iowa a couple decades ago. That film was based on a real crash and maybe that is why I liked it better than "Passengers". The problem with this film, is that it beats around the bush for a story and ends up a mass of confusion, romance, drama and a twisty ending which just makes you glad it is over when the credits roll.

If you like to watch films with wide appeal and don't really care about how convoluted the plot is, I guess I could recommend it. Given the choice; I'd rather watch "Fearless" again than to have watched this movie at all. Based on what I saw here, the writers and producers were attempting to make a modern-day take on that earlier film and "Passengers" just seemed to lack anything but fabricated emotions and bad special effects.

I loved this movie. Parts of the story made me laugh. It takes a lot for me to laugh out loud but I did. I enjoyed each actor and actress that I respect. They played their parts well. I like Anne in this one. The story starts out one way, then questions arise. Slowly but surely the truth is revealed. Sweet premise. Not realistic but a fantasy: an awesome story nonetheless. Enjoy!

Many people disliked this show, probably because it deals with dying and what comes next and that makes people afraid. I spent 7 weeks in a coma in 2012 and the dreams I had were very realistic. When I finally came out of the coma, I was unsure if I was now awake or even alive. I don't want to spoil the twist. I recommend you watch this 2 times. You miss a lot watching it only once. The acting is a bit surreal, but considering the twist it is appropriate. If nothing else, this may make people think about not postponing what they want to due until later. It may never come.