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Passing Movie Review

Passing is a 2021 drama film directed by Rebecca Hall and starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. It is such a tender, wonderful movie that has an air of timelessness to it.

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“We’re all passing for something or other, aren’t we?“

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In 1920s New York City, a black woman finds her world upended when her life becomes intertwined with a former childhood friend who’s passing as white. She has a white husband from whom she has been concealing her race for years. The two reinitialize their friendship, but it’s tumultuous and it all ends in tragedy. First of all, I hadn’t known much about this issue, so the movie was rather revelatory to me. It serves as an important historical lesson that is also quite heartbreaking.

It is obvious that the movie was based on a book as its screenplay is very thematically rich and nuanced. This adaptation is fantastic as it’s cinematic enough while still retaining those important themes that range from race all the way to sexuality and identity in certain spaces. When Clare wants to go back to the spaces in Harlem, the movie makes a clear statement of how complex these minority spaces are and whether or not a person who went away can ever go back there.

There is a strong hint of homoeroticism in this film, which I also strongly appreciated. The movie did not go overboard with it, but was subtle enough that it’s quite obvious for those who pay close attention. The relationship between these two women is a fascinating one. Full of admiration, love, jealousy and, yes, even chemistry, it’s all rather dynamic and intriguing.

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But it wouldn’t have been twice as good hadn’t it been for the two central performances from these two competent ladies who carried the entirety of this movie on their capable shoulders. Both were perfectly cast. Tessa Thompson gave such a nuanced, wonderful performance in a superbly written role. But this is Ruth Negga’s movie in my opinion and it was great seeing her again in a major movie after ‘Loving’.

I was blown away by her performance. Her Clare is so reminiscent in accent and demeanor to the actresses of twenties and thirties that she above all else is the part of the movie that gave it the most historical authenticity. Demure, elegant and mysterious, but also conflicted and utterly saddened by the life choices that she’s made, Negga delivered all of these complicated emotions, resulting in one of the most underrated performances of the year. She’s truly fantastic.

Passing certainly loses some of its steam in the second half. The opening in particular was so amazing and instantly iconic that the rest of the movie failed to quite capture that strength. Yes, the movie is very leisurely paced and some would say uneventful, but for the most part I actually respected that choice as it led to a more character-driven movie that focused on emotions and authenticity of the black experience in the twenties.

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Rebecca Hall did a terrific job in her directorial debut. She really surprised me. The dialogue is stellar and quite sophisticated while the themes are deftly handled. The black-and-white cinematography is not only gorgeous, but perfectly fitting for this movie that is about a long lost time. There are so many sequences here that effortlessly emulated the Golden Age of Hollywood that I loved every second of it as a huge fan of older movies.