Jennifer Lawrence’s polarizing film Passengers is now a streaming hit eight years after its release, and its success comes at just the right time, just before their next sci-fi film. From The Hunger Games Franchise and Mother! To No hard feelings And silver linings PlaybookJennifer Lawrence’s films have traversed multiple genres, achieving varying degrees of critical and box office success. 2016 Lawrence took her big leap into the world of science fiction with the film Passengerswhich did well at the box office but failed to convince critics upon release.

The science fiction film, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, premiered during Christmas week 2016 and grossed $303 million at the box office worldwide on an estimated budget of $110-150 million. It went on to receive two Oscar nominations. While the film was controversial among critics and audiences, it gradually faded from the wider cultural consciousness. Passengers is enjoying an unexpected resurgence in popularity after being added to Prime Video’s film library on August 1, 2024. Whether as a repeat or for the first time, Passengers quickly became very popular with Prime Video subscribers, which is great news for Lawrence’s upcoming sci-fi film.

Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt’s “Passengers” is now trending on Prime Video – What the 2016 sci-fi film is about

Passengers is a streaming trend eight years after its release

Led by The imitation gameis Morten Tyldum and written by dune And Dune – Part TwoThey are Jon Spaihts, Passengers follows the story of Aurora Lane (Lawrence) and Jim Preston (Pratt), two passengers on an interstellar ship that takes thousands of people from Earth to a colony whose journey takes 120 yearsWhen Jim is accidentally awakened from his hibernation capsule 90 years earlier than planned, his loneliness after a year alone on the ship leads him to reluctantly decide to awaken fellow passenger Aurora. But instead of telling her the truth, Jim makes Aurora believe that her release was due to a system malfunction.

Serves as Sci-Fi-Romance Genre Hybrid, Passengers‘ Main characters also fall in love over the course of the year, they are the only two people awake on the spaceship. Of course, Jim’s actions in releasing Aurora soon come to light, and things get worse when another capsule malfunction causes Deck Chief Officer Gus (Laurence Fishburne) to awaken from his artificial hibernation. Jim and Aurora must then risk their lives to repair other damaged parts of the ship, with PassengersThe divisive ending presents the couple with a difficult decision regarding their relationship and future.

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While the fascinating story led to a relatively large box office success, Passengers has only a critics rating of 30% on the review aggregator website Rotten TomatoesMeanwhile, the film is relatively better received by the audience and achieves a more positive rating of 63%. Passengers is often ranked among the more underrated science fiction films of the last decade, with several reviews highlighting the compelling performances of the cast and the entertaining nature of the easy-to-watch popcorn flick.

Why the passenger issue is so divisive

The central romance of the 2016 film divided critics

The driving factor behind Passengers‘ divisive reception is its narrative, especially the basis of how the relationship of the main couple is formed in the film. Some critics compared the story of the science fiction film positively with films such as James Cameron’s romantic disaster classic Titanic and the science fiction thriller Gravity. Some less positive reviews, meanwhile, criticized the narrative and romantic resolution in the face of manipulation by Chris Pratt’s character, comparing his actions to a disturbing captor-prisoner dynamic.

Critical reviews have described Jim as a character who exhibits stalking, creepiness, and violent intentions, but these are not effectively dealt with or condemned in the film. After Jim falls in love with the sleeping Aurora, he effectively takes away her life, future, and dreams by removing her from the pods for his own self-gratification and potential bliss. Although Aurora becomes angry with him when she discovers that he intentionally released her, Passengers does not make clear to him the serious, cruel consequences of his actionsand instead softens the impact to give it its happy romantic ending.

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The film’s critical summary on Rotten Tomatoes best sums up the polarizing nature of the film: “Passengers proves that Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence work well together – and that even their chemistry isn’t enough to overcome a fatally flawed story.“ The controversy surrounding PassengersThe central romance was even commented on by Lawrence, who agreed that starting with her character waking up could have improved the story’s effectiveness (via EW). While Foreigner was his “The Great White Shark in space” comparison, Passengers‘ “Titanic in space” style didn’t quite workbecause Jack had never forced Rose into his life through persistent manipulation.

Jennifer Lawrence’s upcoming sci-fi film can make amends for Passengers’ controversial story

Lawrence’s next science fiction film will be produced by A24

While Passengers is still Lawrence’s biggest science fiction project, with the Oscar winner finally returning to the genre after several years. Lawrence is set to star in A24’s upcoming adaptation of Why don’t you love me?a dark sci-fi comedy based on the 2023 graphic novel of the same name. A24 has produced some of the most notable sci-fi films of the last decade, including Ex Machina, The lobsterAnd Everything everywhere at oncewhich is very optimistic for Lawrence’s upcoming science fiction film. After PassengersJennifer Lawrence’s Why don’t you love me? can give her a critically acclaimed science fiction hit.

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes, Entertainment Weekly

Passengers

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Passengers is set on a colony ship that is taking hibernating human passengers to a distant alien world. Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt play Aurora and Jim, two passengers on the ship who are awakened from their artificial sleep nearly a century too early. As the two begin to come to terms with their isolation and form a bond, Aurora begins to suspect that Jim is not as innocent in the accident as he claims.

director

Morten Tyldum

Release date

21 December 2016

Authors

Jon Spaihts

Duration

116 minutes

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