Passengers remains a title that sticks out sorely from the actresses' relatively well-regarded resume. The film itself was widely criticized for raising an ethical dilemma taken by Pratt's character but exploring it too broadly for the film to maintain any real substance. Pratt's Jim wakes Lawrence's Aurora from a hibernation pod so that he does not have to live out his remaining years on a doomed off-course spacecraft alone, hiding his receipt that he opened the pod. Shaping this problem of truth and solitude, or deceit and companionship, into a hollow romance, in which Aurora is never given particularly deep characterization or soul, and closing Passengers' story with a contrived happy ending, in which the protagonists save everyone on the ship and share a future together, left the film with a sour critical reception.
Insufficient thematic exploration and watered-down CGI spectacle aside, what likely infuriated Lawrence fans about Passengers the most was how little the actress was given to do. Even though criticisms of her being slightly wooden in the role are at least somewhat justified, it is hard to deny that Aurora's characterization gave Lawrence little to fashion into a memorable performance. Arguably, what Lawrence's career trajectory does suggest is how quick Hollywood is to lose interest in some of its stars. Lawrence's career has hardly stagnated in recent years, her role in Adam Mckay's Don't Look Up showing she still fits in just fine around other A-List names like Leonardo DiCaprio, but she's definitely not quite the household name many may have once expected her to become. It's important to remember, even with a few flops, Lawrence is an Oscar-winning actress and likely still has plenty in the tank for upcoming roles. Though, whether she'll ever fancy another forage into sci-fi is perhaps a more skeptical matter.