'The Passengers' Review: A Time Capsule with a Beating Heart
- Romey Norton
- May 25
- 3 min read
By Romey Norton - May 25, 2025
There’s a certain magic to stumbling upon a moment preserved in amber — or in this case, 16mm grain and VHS fuzz. The Passengers, a strikingly intimate documentary from director Thomas F. Mazziotti, opens a window into 1990s New York City not through headlines or stock footage, but through the eyes, voices, and vulnerabilities of the people who lived it. Unearthed after more than three decades in hibernation, this 71-minute film is less a nostalgia trip and more a raw, resonant meditation on identity, chaos, and connection in a city always in motion.
What is 'The Passengers' About?
This documentary grapples with the turbulence of the era: crime, gentrification, AIDS, art, ambition, and the quiet, daily search for meaning in a metropolis that never stops to ask questions. Through personal, candid footage, we see subway singers, street poets, wanderers, and everything that makes New York one of the most famous cities in the world.
The interviews are immediate, visceral, and unfiltered. That’s the genius behind Mazziotti’s decision to let the footage sit for over 30 years; it allows the audience to experience the decade as it unfolded, without the gloss of modern interpretation. And here’s the twist: many of the fears, dreams, and existential musings of 1990s New Yorkers still echo today.
Exploring Humanity’s Shadows Through Intimate Confessions
We hear from a young woman who recalls her first time stealing, and how much she enjoys it, but how it ruined her life. A young woman talking about the abuse her brother put her through, a man learning how to tell the truth but how he enjoys pushing people's buttons, and many more intimate, vulnerable, and relatable stories. The documentary doesn’t shy away from looking at people's dark sides and how they view the world.
The whole piece is shot in black and white, with some sections having very dim lighting across faces, which will really make you lean into what is being said. There is piano music used across people's interviews, which helps reflect the speaker's mood. In some sections, there are random bursts of piano music, which give a dramatic, chaotic, and uncomfortable feel. And in others, it is soft, gentle, to make the viewer at ease.
Premiering at the New York City Independent Film Festival on June 6, and already receiving an honourable mention at the LA Underground Film Forum, The Passengers has already begun to carve a niche within the indie documentary circuit. Its lo-fi aesthetic and street-level perspective align perfectly with the current resurgence of analogue storytelling in the digital age.
With the documentary being one interview after another, you might wonder how it will come together and tie up so it can end with a level of poignancy. But let me tell you that it does. There’s a lovely monologue as we watch a very dark subway travel across the screen. If the subway and a New Yorker talking about their wonderful, chaotic life doesn’t inspire you, then I don’t know what will.
Is 'The Passengers' a Watch Worthy Documentary?
At just over an hour long, The Passengers is a compact yet contemplative piece that invites viewers not only to look back, but to listen closely. It’s a reminder that even amidst the chaos of a bygone era, people were, and still are, just people, trying to be seen, heard, and understood. Whether you're a documentary enthusiast, a fan of New York history, or simply in search of something soul-stirringly real, The Passengers is worth the ride.
The Passengers premieres at the New York Independent Film Festival on June 6
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