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Quick Links What Happened to Peris in Uglies? Does Peris Return in the Uglies Book Series? Is Peris From Netflixs Uglies Actually Dead?

Books being made into movies is always slightly tricky since there is always a massive fanbase already connected to the novel series, which, understandably so, has high expectations regarding the storyline as well as the characters. Netflix has made the bold move of taking Scott Westerfelds 20-year-old novel series about a controversial topic and bringing it onto the screen. The opinions on the Netflix movie Uglies are split, but the YA adaptation has started a conversation about problematic beauty standards and the increase of cosmetic surgery in the younger generation, which would technically have the potential to make it one of the best movies on Netflix. An underlying issue specifically focused on in the Uglies movie is the use of social media and beauty filters, which feed...

Stars: Johnny Berchtold, Kyle Gallner, Lupe Leon, Liza Weil, Billy Slaughter, Jordan Sherley, Morgana Shaw, Kanesha Washington | Written by Jack Stanley | Directed by Carter Smith

Not to be confused with the Spanish road trip horror of the same name, The Passenger, the new film from Carter Smith, opens with a woman, blood spurting from her eye socket crawling towards a young boy. It’s a nightmare and Randy is woken from it to start another tedious day at Burgers, Burgers, Burgers. He should have taken it as an omen and stayed home.

As they’re getting the diner ready to open one of the other employees starts harassing him, something that seems to be a regular occurrence. Benson watches in disgust before walking out to have a smoke. Then, as if something just snapped he pulls a shotgun from his car and goes back inside killing everyone except Randy whom he takes hostage.

There is a low-key, somewhat sparse feel to The Passenger, director Carter Smith’s engaging and thought-provoking hostage thriller. With Blumhouse behind this film, one might expect equal amounts of grit and action. There’s plenty of the former, less of the latter. The script, penned by Jack Stanley (Lou), delivers a major blow in the film’s first 20 minutes, then eases back, becoming a hostage thriller that slowly builds to its final moments, offering plenty of twists in between.

Kyle Gallner and Johnny Berchtold headline the film playing two characters dealing with past traumas in different ways. Gallner is Benson, a tightly wound burger shack employee who loses it one morning. The ripple effects of his actions send the film into deeply disturbing psychological waters where these two very different characters ultimately must both confront their troubling pasts.

It's High Stakes All the Way

Director Carter Smith establishes the...

There’s more than one way to be a passenger in life, not all of which involve vehicles. That’s certainly the case when it comes to the protagonist in Carter Smith’s propulsive new thriller, which functions like a therapy session on wheels between a murderous shrink and an unwilling patient. If the two of them don’t exactly paint the town red during their would-be getaway, it’s only because their journey was precipitated by a shocking act of violence in their place of business and they now have to keep a low profile. “The Passenger” does as well, and proves sneakily effective with its low-key approach to several kinds of violence.

Before anything overt occurs, the film unsettles us via the color scheme of the grimy fast-food joint where Bradley (Johnny Berchtold) works: a mix of unappetizing yellow, orange, and brown that looks to have been designed...