LevelK has boarded international sales rights to “The Passenger” (“La pasajera”), a high-concept Spanish horror film directed by Fernando Gonzalez (“Downunder”) and Raul Cerezo which will world premiere at Sitges in the Panorama Fantastic section.
Produced by Jose Luis Rancaño (“The Night My Mother Killed My Father”), “The Passenger” follows a group of strangers on a road trip who get abruptly interrupted when their van accidentally hits a female hiker in the middle of the night. They decide to take her to the hospital but soon understand that they only have to comply with a clear rule: not to sit next to her.
The film was penned by Luis Sánchez-Polack (“Prodigios,” “El paisano”), based on an original idea by Cerezo. “The Passenger” is headlined by established Spanish actors, including Ramiro Blas (“Blackwod”), Cecilia Suarez (“The House of Flowers”), Paula Gallego (“Paquita Salas”) and Christina Alcazar (“Cachorro”).
Gonzalez and Cerezo said the “film’s narrative microcosmos is a shared car: a place where friends and enemies have no alternative but to co-exist on a long journey.”
“We wanted to play with the language of cinema and suspense and make a film where something as small as a van leads to something much bigger,” said the pair, who added that they strived to create a suspenseful and suffocating atmosphere and an “adventure experienced by characters who do not know each other and who will learn to love each other when united by an unsustainable situation.” They said the challenge of shooting in a single vehicle also proved creatively “stimulating.”
“The Passenger” shot in Spain and was lensed by Ignacio Aguilar, who previously worked with Cerezo on the horror short “8.”
The movie was financed by Gobierno de Navarra. LevelK will kick off sales on the film at Sitges. The company, which is headquartered in Denmark, handles films from many different nationalities, including “As In Heaven” by Tea Linderburg, “Hive” by Blerta Basholli, Aik Karapetian’s “Samuel’s Travels” and Jonathan Ogilvie’s “Lone Wolf.”