The Hitcher

College students Jim Halsey and Grace Andrews are driving through the New Mexico desert on a rainy night when they pick up a hitchhiker. The man, who introduces himself as John Ryder, soon reveals himself to be a violent psychopath, and Jim manages to force him out of the car. The couple escape, but Ryder follows them and continues killing, arranging the evidence so that suspicion falls on Jim and Grace. Hunted by the police for crimes they did not commit, the two have no choice but to try to capture Ryder themselves and clear their names.

The Hitcher is a 2007 crime, horror and thriller film directed by Dave Meyers, his first feature, made from a screenplay by Eric Bernt, Eric Red and Jake Wade Wall. It stars Sean Bean as John Ryder, Sophia Bush as Grace Andrews and Zachary Knighton as Jim Halsey, with Neal McDonough as Lieutenant Esteridge, Kyle Davis as a store clerk and Danny Bolero as Officer Edwards. Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller produced for Platinum Dunes. Shot for about 10 million dollars, the film took roughly 25 million dollars worldwide.

Audience response has been moderate: it holds a rating of 5.6 out of 10 on IMDb from more than 44,000 votes and 5.9 out of 10 on TMDB from around a thousand votes. A critics' score of 3.8 out of 10 across 107 reviews places professional opinion well below the audience ratings. Meyers later directed This Is Me…Now and Missionary, both released in 2024.