Passing (film)

Passing
Promotional release poster
Directed by	Rebecca Hall
Screenplay by	Rebecca Hall
Based on	Passing by Nella Larsen
Produced by	Nina Yang Bongiovi Forest Whitaker Margot Hand Rebecca Hall
Starring	Tessa Thompson Ruth Negga André Holland Bill Camp Gbenga Akinnagbe Antoinette Crowe-Legacy Alexander Skarsgård
Cinematography	Eduard Grau
Edited by	Sabine Hoffman
Music by	Devonte Hynes
Production companies	Significant Productions Picture Films Flat Five Productions Film4 Productions Gamechanger Films Sweet Tomato Films Endeavor Content
Distributed by	Netflix
Release dates	January 30, 2021 (2021-01-30) (Sundance) October 27, 2021 (2021-10-27) (United States)
Running time	99 minutes[1]
Countries	United States United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$10 million

Passing is a 2021 black-and-white drama film written, produced, and directed by Rebecca Hall in her feature directorial debut. The film is based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Nella Larsen, and its title refers to African-Americans who had skin color light enough to be perceived as white, referred to as "passing."^[2] The film stars Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland, Bill Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, and Alexander Skarsgård.

The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021, and began a limited theatrical release on October 27, 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on November 10. It received acclaim from critics, who praised Hall's screenplay and direction, and performances of Thompson and Negga. The film was named one of the top ten films of 2021 by the African American Film Critics Association.^[3] For her performance, Negga was nominated for the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress.

Plot[]

In 1920s New York City, Irene Redfield, a light-skinned Black woman living in Harlem, meets a childhood friend, Clare Bellew, by chance at a hotel dining room. While Irene is married to a Black doctor, the also light-skinned Clare "passes" as white and has married a wealthy white man from Chicago named John.

Clare invites Irene up to her hotel room so they can talk more openly. Clare explains that after her father died, she was raised by two white aunts and married John very young. They are interrupted by John, who openly despises and degrades African-Americans, unaware of his wife's racial background or that Irene is "passing" for the day. Despite this initial awkward encounter, Clare reaches out to Irene to renew their friendship. After a delay, Irene accepts.

As the two women reconnect, Clare admits that she misses the African-American background she has had to repress around John.

Clare unexpectedly shows up in Harlem, at Irene's door, and after a brief conversation, invites herself to a dancing party Irene is planning to attend. At the party, it becomes apparent that Irene is in love with Clare, who seems oblivious to that. The story of "passing" becomes two-fold: Clare is passing for a white woman while black, and Irene is passing for a heterosexual woman, while lesbian. Soon after Clare becomes involved in every aspect of Irene's social life. After missing the black culture for so long, she is overjoyed to be part of it again. She seems to be interested in everyone around Irene: her husband Brian, her children, her maid, her friends, her friends' husbands, but often leaves Irene left out, making her increasingly jealous.

When out shopping with her friend Felise, who does not pass as white, Irene encounters John, and hurries away as he begins to realize the truth about his wife's racial background. Irene tries to warn Clare, but is unable to reach her by phone.

As Brian, Irene, and Clare are on their way to a Christmas party, Irene asks Clare what she would do if John ever learned the truth. When she replies she would move back to Harlem permanently "and live with you," Irene becomes silent. During the party, she walks away from other guests, opens a window to smoke, and looks seven stories down at the snow on the ground. Suddenly, John angrily forces himself into the apartment demanding to see his wife. It is unclear at this point whether he followed his wife or someone tipped him off. Clare moves close to Irene who is still at the window. John declares that a black party is no place for a white woman. To this, Felise answers, "You are the only white man here."

Finally realizing Clare lied to him, John lunges toward his wife. In a split-second moment, Irene puts an arm across Clare's belly and, just before John reaches her, pushes her out of the window.

In horror, everyone rushes outside to see what happened to Clare. Irene remains at the window looking at Clare's lifeless body on the snow, down below. After some hesitation, she slowly goes downstairs to where the other guests are speaking with the police. The police seem to suspect John who denies pushing his wife. Upon being questioned, Irene confirms John's statement that Clare's fall was an accident.

The camera zooms out showing Clare's body down below being removed by the medics, and the movie title appears again on the screen. "Passing" now has a third meaning: dying.

Cast[]

• Tessa Thompson as Irene "Reenie" Redfield
• Ruth Negga as Clare Bellew
• André Holland as Brian Redfield
• Bill Camp as Hugh Wentworth
• Alexander Skarsgård as John Bellew
• Gbenga Akinnagbe as Dave Freedland
• Antoinette Crowe-Legacy as Felise
• Ashley Ware Jenkins as Zu

Production[]

It was announced in August 2018 that Rebecca Hall would be making her directorial debut on the adaptation of the Nella Larsen novel, with Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga set to star in the lead roles.^[4] Hall had begun writing the film a decade earlier upon reflecting on her own family's history. When Hall presented her with a script version, Negga decided to collaborate in making it into a film as Negga was surprised the work was not more prominent, after having read the novel and was "completely astounded" by it.^[5] Thompson stated that the film would be shot in black and white.^[6] André Holland was cast in October 2019.^[7] In November 2019, Alexander Skarsgård joined the cast of the film.^[8]

With less than a month to go before filming production was set to begin, Hall was still $500,000 short on her desired $10 million budget, and had to apply for two grants to cover the difference.^[9] Filming began in November 2019 in New York City.^[10] The film is in monochrome. Benjamin Lee of The Guardian praised the use of a 4:3 aspect ratio as in this film it was "both fitting and practical given a smaller budget".^[11] Into the third week of filming, the Hugh Wentworth role, originally intended for Benedict Cumberbatch, remained uncast, and budgetary realities and the tight filming timeline meant the production would need an actor who lived in New York. On November 21, Bill Camp signed on, and filming wrapped in December after a 23-day shoot.^[9]

Release[]

Passing had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021.^[12] Shortly after, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film for around $15 million.^[13] It also screened at the New York Film Festival on October 3, 2021.^[14][15] The film had a limited theatrical release on October 27, 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on November 10.^[16]

According to Samba TV, the film was watched in 653,000 households over its first three days of release.^[17]

Reception[]

Ruth Negga's performance in the film garnered widespread critical praise

Critical reception[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 226 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While Passing's delicate approach has a dampening effect on its story, debuting director Rebecca Hall makes the most of an impressive cast — and handles thorny themes with impressive dexterity."^[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[19]

Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film 4/5 stars, calling it, "a mesmerizing, deeply disquieting experience."^[20] Jessica Kiang, writing for Variety, wrote that the film is "unerring, deceptively delicate, quiet and immaculate, like that final fall of snow."^[2] In his review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw praised Hall's direction, calling the film, "a very stylish piece of work from Hall."^[21] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian, however, gave the film a negative review of 2/5 stars, arguing that it had "disappointing lack of verve" and was "inert".^[11]

The performances of Negga and Thompson in particular received praise. In a very positive review for the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips gave the film a perfect score of 4/4 stars, and wrote of the performances: "what Thompson and Negga accomplish on screen in this extraordinarily detailed portrait becomes a master class in incremental revelations".^[22] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter lauded Thompson for her, "unshowy, beautifully internalized performance", and Simran Hans called Negga "magnetic" in her review for The Guardian.^[23][24] In Time Magazine's annual best performances of the year list, Stephanie Zacharek named Negga's performance of the best of 2021.^[25]

Accolades[]

References[]

External links[]

• Passing at IMDb
• Passing at Rotten Tomatoes
• Official screenplay