Passing (2021) Movie Review
Passing is the directorial debut for Rebecca Hall who you might be more familiar with as an actor. She has had a fairly successful acting career with movies such as The Town (2010), Christine (2016), and Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). With Passing, Hall steps into the realm of writer and director.
Irene (Tessa Thompson) is a light skinned black woman living in Harlem. She’s married to a doctor, Brian (André Holland) and has a few kids. One day, she bumps into an old classmate, Clare (Ruth Negga) and they strike up their old friendship again. Clare is different from Irene in that she “passes” for white and is married to a white man. Passing explores the two women’s friendship, their insecurities, and their differing lives. It is a quiet movie, with a push-pull quality that leaves you trying to guess where things will wind up.
Irene is more reserved, preferring to blend into the background and not question the way of the world too deeply. She’s happy to raise her children and relax in Harlem with her husband. Clare is much more of a firecracker. She likes to have a good time and takes more risks than Irene does. They have a titillating relationship that alternates between affection and jealousy. Ruth Negga shines in each scene, immediately drawing your attention and giving Clare an air of mystery and enthusiasm. Clare struggles with her chosen identity and longs for the connectedness with those living in Harlem. Irene on the other hand, longs for the freedom and luxuries that Clare has. It’s a classic case of wanting what you don’t have and makes for an interesting character study.
Rebecca Hall pulls the most from her actors and presents each scene with a quiet confidence. She’s helped immensely by the musical score, which is excellent. Devonté Hynes lends his musical talents to Passing and crafts a rolling tune of pleasant piano notes that gives life to the scenes that show the lulling nature of life in the 1920’s. Scenes are full of minute movements – a fluttering curtain, a tea kettle on the stove, a faucet running with water. It takes you to a quieter time. Much like the rest of the movie, the contrast between life as a black woman and life as a white woman in this era is on display in small, subtle ways. The racist tones bleed through each scene, but overt acts of violence involving race are omitted. Instead, Hall imbues each scene with a perilous intensity as each woman holds onto the secret the other has shared.
The ending culminates this emotional friendship with a moment of chaos. The ambiguous nature of the ending is perhaps the only way to wrap up the story. It is a fitting, if somewhat maddening, ending. At one point earlier in the film, Irene breaks a dish that she has always disliked saying, “I only had to break it to be free of it forever.” Those words could be ominous foreshadowing depending on how you interpret the ending of the movie. Overall, Passing is an excellent study of how race affects daily life with perfect performances from Thompson and Negga. It’s a brilliant directorial debut for Rebecca Hall and a quietly powerful film.
You’ll like this film if:
1. You like ambiguous endings
2. You like stories that dissect race
3. You like stories about complicated friendships
