Passengers is climbing Netflix, but it hasn't aged well

Passengers, the 2016 sci‑fi romance from Morten Tyldum, is currently climbing the Netflix charts. The film packs a cast that includes Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia, yet its flaws remain striking despite the marquee names.

Pratt plays Jim Preston, a mechanical engineer aboard the interstellar ship Avalon, bound for Homestead II, which will take 120 light‑years from Earth. Jim is accidentally awakened from cryo‑sleep 90 years early with no way to go back under; fated to die long before reaching the colony, he sabotages another passenger’s pod and wakes Aurora (Lawrence).

Tyldum lays out a compelling ethical question and, in the first half, makes clear that Jim’s choice effectively dooms her—the word “murder” is raised and Lawrence has moments of physical acting that underscore the gravity of what he has done.

passengers, netflix, morten tyldum, chris pratt, jennifer lawrence, michael sheen, laurence fishburne, andy garcia, avalon ship, cryo sleep