Jennifer Lawrence's most polarizing movie aims for second look on Netflix

More often than not, your favorite artist puts out a body of work that divides the public. Critics and audiences won't always agree one way or another, but sometimes, they just might see eye to eye when something doesn't quite work. That's pretty much what happened with Jennifer Lawrence's big-budget, high-concept dabble in sci-fi romance 10 years ago.

After winning her Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook and wrapping up The Hunger Games saga, Lawrence began taking on bold roles. However, her most polarizing movie isn't Mother! or Die My Love or even the brash comedy No Hard Feelings. It's her co-headlining role alongside Chris Pratt in the science-fiction misfire Passengers that's still earning discourse.

Passengers coming to Netflix in June 2026

In honor of its 10th anniversary of release, which the movie will officially celebrate in December, the 2016 sci-fi movie Passengers will be added to Netflix on Monday, June 1, 2026. While the movie has been on Netflix in the past and has been largely available to watch since its release a decade ago, it's the latest streaming addition for the flick and a new chance at winning over viewers

From director Morten Tyldum and writer Jon Spaihts, Passengers takes place in a spaceship carrying thousands of Earth habitants to a new planet called Homestead II. Their journey is supposed to take 120-years, which they spend in hibernation pods. However, when Jim Preston (Chris Pratt) wakes up 90 years early, he attempts to fix the ship's problem and wake the crew to no avail. One year of boredom later, he wakes Aurora Lane (Jennifer Lawrence) to join him.

Here's where most viewers take fault with Passengers and understandably so. Jim lies to Aurora about waking her up, chalking it up to the same malfunction that woke him up. Being so, he has confined her to the same fate as him, waking up early and never reaching their destination. In the end, the pair have to save the ship and the rest of its passengers, leading them to have a peaceful existence together and the Avalon waking everyone from hibernation 88 years later as planned.

Upon release, Passengers struggled to connect with audiences despite its A-list stars and its perfectly timed holiday release. Science-fiction movies with a high concept have proven to work at the box office in the past, but this particular titles disconnect with critics didn't help its case. Passengers holds a 30% score on Rotten Tomatoes with critics agreeing with the movie's biggest detractors that, in the end, the story was simply flawed.

When the movie first came out, I have to admit that I enjoyed the viewing experience. As a fan of Lawrence's work, Passengers was a hit in my eyes because once again, she delivers a performance that you can't look away from. And as entertaining as the movie might be, it's true that something feels missing or just a bit off once the credits begin to roll.

Over the years, Passengers has inspired discourse here and there on social media and alternate takes on how to make the story work have been pitched. One of the leading suggestions was to shift the point of view to Aurora and have the audience learn with her that Jim woke her up. Since we already know the "twist," the conflict doesn't have as big of an impact (and it feels icky).

But is Passengers worth watching? Personally, I would say to give it a shot. If you haven't seen it before, just read all of the spoilers, and feel like you don't need to, it's still a thought-provoking movie with great performances and stunning visuals. And if you have seen it before and didn't like it, it's the right time to see whether 10 years time can change your perception.

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