The Passenger (film)

The Passenger is a purposed film about a vigilante in 1970's New York who kills criminals on subway trains. The film was inspired by Bernhard Goets, a man who shot 4 muggers on a subway train in self deffence and was labled the subway vigilante by the media. The film pays tribute to other vigilante films such as Death Wish and Taxi Driver. The film uses various unconventional techniques to make the films look like those that were shown in grindhouse theaters in the 1970s and is intentionally damaged to make it look like many of the exploitation films of the 1970s, which were generally shipped around from theater to theater and usually ended up in bad shape.

Plot
Set in 1977 in New York City, a man named Timothy Baker lives an average life as an insurance salesman who bowls with his co-workers as a past time hobby. Timothy commutes to work every day on the subway train and always witness’s muggings, stabbings and sometimes murders. One night after going bowling, he witnesses two gang members from the Manhattan Riders mugging an old woman and pointing a gun at her. The woman knocks the gun out of the gang member’s hand causing it to land in Timothy’s. Not knowing what to do, the two gang members threaten to hurt him if he doesn’t shoot the old woman. Timothy shoots booth gang members, gets off at the next stop, and flees the scene of the shooting. When he returns home, he cannot sleep with the adrenalin rush he got from murdering the two gang members. Meanwhile in East Harlem, The leader of the Manhattan Riders learns of the shooting and orders his men to find the man who killed his comrades. The next morning Timothy goes to breakfast at a local dinner at meets an old friend named Travis Bail who had served in the Vietnam War. After catching up, Travis offers Timothy to join him at a local shooting range but he declines saying, I’m not a violent man. On his commute to work, two Manhattan Riders try to kill Timothy. Timothy remembers that he still has the gun from the shooting in his pocket. He quickly kills the two gang members before fleeing the scene again. That night he calls Travis and takes up his offer to go to the shooting range with him. At the shooting range Timothy admits to Travis about both shootings. Travis, surprised that Timothy is the mysterious subway shooter the news has been talking about, believes Timothy should continue to serve out justice in New York’s Subway system and even offers him combat training and a cache of weapons. Timothy agrees to the offer and after a few weeks of training goes out on Thursday night to serve out vigilante justice. He wears a leather coat along with a fedora and sunglasses so he isn’t recognized. Timothy massacres a group of Manhattan Riders on board a subway train bound for Midtown. Timothy flees the scene and the next morning his actions make the front page of the news. Timothy continues his homicidal justice on the subway system as the weeks go on. Meanwhile the FBI has launches an investigation into the subway vigilante who is slaughtering gang members. Not knowing what to call him the Bureau calls him The Passenger and offers a $50,000 reward for his capture. As the weeks go on Timothy’s co – workers become suspicious of him not showing up to work, skipping bowling tournaments, and not answering his phone. They hire a private investigator to monitor Timothy. On a night when Timothy goes out to fight criminals he is followed by the P.I. While following him on his vigilante spree the P.I get taken hostage by one of the Riders, only to be saved by Timothy. When Timothy arrives at his apartment after a night of killing, FBI agents burst in to arrest him. At their field office Timothy confesses that he is The Passenger and that he became the vigilante on the advice of a friend. The agent talking to Timothy reveals that Travis Bail was killed in Vietnam in 1972 and the he saw was a hallucination. Meanwhile at City Hall, the Manhattan Riders kidnap the Mayor and hold him hostage on a subway train with other passengers. The news quickly picks up the story and learns that the Riders demand the FBI hand over The Passenger to them or they will kill the Mayor along with a group of hostages on the train. The FBI meets with the train at Grand Central Station. When the agents hand over Timothy they release the hostages with the exception of the mayor. When the bureau discovers that the Mayor is not among the hostages the subway train carrying the Riders takes off. They plan on crashing the train full speed with themselves, The Mayor and The Passenger on board. Timothy steals a semi-automatic gun from one of the thugs and massacres his way to the front of the train. He runs out of bullets by the time he slaughters his way to the front of the train. By then the gang leader is the one left stand between Timothy and the Controls that control the Train the two engage in hand to hand combat before Timothy grabs a piece of broken glass a slits the leader’s throat. He then goes to shut down the train before collapsing from multiple bullet wounds he received in the shootout. When the FBI arrives at the scene, they discover a traumatized mayor along with gravely wounded Timothy. An unknown amount of time passes and shows Timothy in a prison cell. A guard tells him that he’s got a new cellmate. A man walks in, unpacks his stuff, and says, “So what’s your story.” Timothy looks to the man and smiles as the screen fades to black.