Passing (2021)

By: Mike Ward on Sunday, November 28

PG-13 Running Time: 98 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Acclaimed actor Rebecca Hall delivers a striking directorial debut with Passing, a unique adaptation of a 1929 novel, whose themes of tolerated and institutionalized racism strike a powerful chord nearly 100 years later.
Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga are fantastic together, with Negga walking a skillful tightrope in “passing” through her character’s multiple complexities.
A gorgeous films to watch from a visual standpoint, with the use of black, white, and hues of grey almost characters in and of themselves.

NO

Passing has a deliberate, measured approach and some will find this film unnecessarily slow and drawn out.
Tends to flirt with melodrama and delivers a polarizing ending that seems equally as frustrating as it is emotionally affecting.
Some have described the film as almost too “perfect,” too polished, and as a result it renders the film as thoughtful for the eyes and less thoughtful for the mind.

OUR REVIEW

Attempting to move undetected through an impossibly hot summer day in 1920s Harlem, Irene, a/k/a “Renie,” (Tessa Thompson), looks down, demure, and unassumingly makes her way into a hotel tea room to escape the heat. With a hat largely covering her face, she draws attention from a woman across the room whose gaze has fixed on her in something of an unsettling manner.

Soon, the woman approaches and recognizes Renie. She introduces herself as Clare (Ruth Negga), a friend from their childhood. Caught off-guard, but also taken aback by Clare’s striking appearance of platinum blonde hair and a surprising Southern belle diction, Renie and Clare shift from small-talk to Clare inviting Renie up to her suite so they can catch up on lost time.

This opening sequence in Passing, the directorial debut of acclaimed actor Rebecca Hall, is as mysterious as it is inviting. The world Hall invites us into is not going to be a comfortable one for the entirety of Passing’s 100-minute run time, but that is inherently the point.

Though the title instantly generates multiple meanings, initially and most prominently, Passing relates to Clare, a woman of color, passing as a white woman to not only the world, but also her husband John (Alexander Skarsgård). John, an unabashed racist, is too wrapped up in his own bigotry to even be aware of who he spends his time with. All of this is understandably a lot for Renie to take in, and she exits as quickly and deftly as she can.

Adapted from Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel of the same name, Hall, who also wrote the screenplay, creates a distinctive monochromatic presentation to tell this story. Utilizing a 4:3 aspect ratio, Passing becomes boxed-in, forced and tight, placing these characters in an uncomfortable, squeezed in world they are desperate to break out of.

The cinematic frame is important as Renie, her husband Brian (André Holland), and their two young sons and in-house maid (Ashley Ware Jenkins), live a life of relative comfort. Yet it all comes within a larger context of racism lurking everywhere - placards, signs, and segregation is commonplace - aggression seething to strike out potentially at any moment.

Clare doesn’t go away, surprising Renie on her doorstep when Renie makes an initial decision to separate contact from her old friend and not answer her letters. Eventually, a friendship rekindles, other feelings are alluded to, and Clare becomes embedded within Renie’s family structure. Hall has a very measured, calming approach to a story that quietly, methodically increases in intensity. As Negga becomes comfortable in a skin she seldom shows, Renie starts to see her life slowly beginning to slip out of her control.

With a strategic and punctual jazz piano score from Devonté Hynes (known by music fans as Blood Orange), Hall crafts a film that feels both from another time, and whose themes and statements prove powerful in today’s climate. Eventually, as truths no longer remain hidden and become revealed, Passing takes a turn some may not be expecting - an intentionally ambiguous, but thoughtful coda on everything which came before it.

Hall’s film, too deliberate and slow for some, while engrossing and captivating for others, is a drama that exists in rotational darkness and light, with profound dialogue and a skittish demeanor that amplifies the emotional uncertainty swirling around Renie and Clare. in her directorial debut, Hall expertly manipulates mood and tempo and Passing underscores its gorgeous presentation with a call for authenticity and acceptance in a world increasingly polarized and distant.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Bill Camp, Alexander Skarsgård, Ashley Ware Jenkins

Director: Rebecca Hall
Written by: Rebecca Hall
Adapted from the novel “Passing” by Nella Larsen
Release Date: October 27, 2021
Netflix

Acclaimed actor Rebecca Hall delivers a striking directorial debut with Passing, a unique adaptation of a 1929 novel, whose themes of tolerated and institutionalized racism strike a powerful chord nearly 100 years later.

Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga are fantastic together, with Negga walking a skillful tightrope in “passing” through her character’s multiple complexities.

A gorgeous films to watch from a visual standpoint, with the use of black, white, and hues of grey almost characters in and of themselves.

Passing has a deliberate, measured approach and some will find this film unnecessarily slow and drawn out.

Tends to flirt with melodrama and delivers a polarizing ending that seems equally as frustrating as it is emotionally affecting.

Some have described the film as almost too “perfect,” too polished, and as a result it renders the film as thoughtful for the eyes and less thoughtful for the mind.