Popular reviews

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  Review by Haaniyah ★★★★★ 2

  Once again if this was my directorial debut NOBODY could say shit to me.

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  Review by kársten ★★★½

  a shame that i put out a video all about 4:3 two weeks ago because this is one of the best examples of a movie that knew what it was doing with it

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  Review by Paul ★★★★½ 7

  I’ll be honest, the first time I watched this movie everything in my mind was set on disliking it. I agreed with (and to an extent still do) the idea that Tessa Thompson didn’t necessarily pass. I’d seen her in enough movies that were in color to imagine that i wouldn’t be able to suspend my disbelief. Boy was I wrong. The performances were stellar but the film still left me a bit lost which I now attribute to a lack of research. The text on which this is based on I’ve heard was dense and as a result so is the film. Reflecting on it now, I mean this in the best way possible. 

  Despite my initial reaction which…

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  Review by Dawson ★★½ 2

  Rebecca Hall: in my directorial debut- 

  Sundance: okay great

  Rebecca: i’ll be dissecting American race relations in the context of 1920s Harlem 

  Sundance: sounds fantastic  

  Rebecca: and it’s shot in black-and-white 

  Sundance: say no more 

  Rebecca: to symbolize the complexities of-

  Sundance: YO

  Rebecca: colorism and repression in the gray areas between the lines

  Sundance: YOOOO

  Rebecca: did i mention the 4:3 aspect ratio?

  Sundance: *flatlines*

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  Review by Lucy ★★★½ 1

  SUNDANCE 2021: film #11

  “things aren’t always what they seem”

  i was totally convinced that i loved this until it ended and i actually started weighing it properly. it begins so strong but as it becomes more introspective the narrative in turn got a bit lost. that’s not a bad thing, there are a lot of things worked into the script that work really well as separate pieces and conversations until they start to dissolve together (for better or for worse). the performances are amazing (unsurprisingly), ruth and tessa especially, and the cinematography is exquisite. the ending, however, i’ll have to think on for a while to really figure out how i feel about the movie as a whole. this rating feels accurate while i let it sit, only time will tell

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  Review by Ella Kemp ★★★½

  #1: Ruth Negga is channelling major Daisy Buchanan energy here and by that I mean she’s *glorious*
  #2: Devonté Hynes on the piano, I mean, my god, just tremendous
  #3: I wonder if Alexander Skarsgard will ever play a character who isn’t an absolutely awful human being

  
  Edit: As pointed out to me by Selome, a big part of the score is actually using Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou’s The Homeless Wanderer, which was also used in Garrett Bradley’s TIME and is just incredible!

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  Review by Matt Singer ★★★½ 1

  I liked this more on second viewing, when I focused less on the story and more on Rebecca Hall’s deft visual storytelling. I love the mirrored shots of the broken flower pot and the very last image of the film, and how she uses varying amounts of light on Tessa Thompson’s face — bright when she’s with Ruth Negga’s Clare, dark when she’s home with her family — to suggest the intrusion of this white world (or of the danger represented by Clare) into her home. (Hall even changes these light levels within scenes; watch for the bright shaft of light that strikes Thompson’s face the moment Clare arrives at Irene’s house for the first time.) Smart stuff.

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  Review by Kyle Turner ★★★★ 1

  good movie about the erotic tension of being attracted to someone you find fundamentally obnoxious

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  Review by Chris Feil ★★★★

  Ruth Negga staring into the camera and straight into my fucking soul. She’s extraordinary.

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  Review by ˗ˏˋ Liam ˊˎ˗ ★★★★ 3

  "We're all passing for something or other, aren't we?"

  a truly extraordinary debut from rebecca hall accompanied by yet another exquisite devonté hynes score and carried by two incredible performances. i feel like this film will sit with me for a while.

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  Review by anna nomaly ★★★½ 5

  It's an astonishingly bold move for Rebecca Hall to choose this particular project for her directing debut, but she has never been an artist interested in making things easy on herself. Guided and undeniably elevated by Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, the film handles its landmine of a premise with insight and sensitivity, lending equal care and compassion to the passive idealism of Irene and the assertive pragmatism of Clare. Apart from a few truly shocking moments, Passing isn't interested in melodrama, and it generally avoids the predictable paths most viewers will be expecting. It's quiet and introspective, with major revelations playing out in fleeting glances and unspoken exchanges, its players bathed in a vivid monochrome that speaks to all of their thorniest questions.

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  Review by rachel ★★★★ 2

  let’s get ruth negga booked and busy! what a splendid actress