Passing - Movie Review

Critics Score - 7 of 10

General Audience Score - 6 of 10

Black and white movies are quite a peculiar specimen among the pantheon of films. While most movies from the early days of cinema were made that way as the standard of filmmaking, nowadays it’s generally considered to be more of an artistic choice and usually lines up with films critics fall all over themselves for as opposed to being loved by mainstream audiences. The new film Passing from Netflix is one such film that not only uses the black and white style, it’s also set in the early 1900’s and has the look and feel of films’ from that era. Some director’s decisions to lose the color makes sense while others leave you wondering why, but with Passing, the director Rebecca Hall’s choice is obvious. She tackles the issue of race, the term “passing” is used in the context of this film when light-skinned people of color try and pass themselves off as white. While the film succeeds at nailing the aesthetics of this idea and portrays it in an interesting and engaging way, there’s not nearly as much here for an average movie goer and they might just find themselves Passing out on the couch.

SYNOPSIS - We travel into this realm devoid of color and

meet Irene (Tessa Thompson) as she’s out and about on the streets of New York toy shopping for her two children. But after stopping into a hotel restaurant to cool down, she runs into a mysterious old friend, Clare (Ruth Negga) recognizes Irene, an acquaintance from school and they start chatting a bit. Clare takes Irene up to the room she’s staying in and we discover that of the two light-skinned women of color, Clare chose a life of “passing” and married a white man who doesn’t know her ethnicity. The already awkward conversation goes further south though when Clare’s husband John (Alexander Skarsgård) shows up and after talking a bit starts expressing his disdain for members of the women’s ethnicity. But after Irene goes home, Clare writes to her and begins to come visit her in Harlem and also begins to tag along to parties with Irene and her husband Brian (André Holland). Clare is the life of the party, loves to dance and flirt with the boys but dark clouds loom on the horizon when it becomes evident that she’s taken an interest in Brian and things start careening toward an edge of unknown.

Once the toner cartridge runs out and the screen goes white, we’ve been shown what the power of black and white cinema is able to do, there really aren’t very many films that are able to utilize this format better. Many of the other technical aspects of this film are impressive, the writing is excellent and the direction is precise. The film stays clearly focused on where it’s going although it may seem to meander along it’s way getting there. A shorter runtime at just over an hour and a half definitely makes it a little more palatable for general audiences who might begin to wonder when this film is going to get where it’s headed. But eventually we arrive at the destination and although we’re not blown away by some unbelievable climax, it’s striking, meditative and somber finale has the power to stay in ones mind for quite some time. Additionally, enough good cannot be said about Ruth Negga’s acting and although Tessa Thompson is wonderful as well, Ruth should find herself with some hardware for this outstanding performance at the end of this awards season.

SUMMARY - Even though Passing is designed for a specific audience, there’s a lot going on in this film to enjoy, the acting, screenplay, cinematography, score and other technical elements are so solid that there’s a lot here audiences will be entertained by. This film could even make a play for a Best Picture nomination. That being said, some general audiences will definitely pass on Passing while the art house crowd, fans of period dramas and great acting will eat this film up and come back for seconds.