Delayed Reaction: Passing

Premise: A black woman passing for white in the 1920s feels the pull of her Harlem roots.

 

The idea of passing is really interesting. Because, you know, racism and suppression, light-skinned black people would try to pass as white people*. There's so much to unpack in that. There's the colorism in the black community. There's the rejection of one's identity. Of course, it taps into the question of what race is exactly anyway. I wouldn't dare try to get into all of that now, but needless to say, it's a terrific backdrop for a movie.

 

*I know there are other types of passing, but this is the most predominant and pertinent to this movie.

 

Passing is the directorial debut of actress Rebecca Hall, starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. Thompson is a black woman, Irene, who decides to try to pass as white one day and happens to run into a childhood friend, Clare (Ruth Negga), who disappeared from their Harlem community because she's passing as white full time. Her hair is dyed blond. She's married to a racist white man - Alexander Skarsgard really needs to start mixing in some nice guy roles into his filmography - who has no idea that she's really black. After reconnecting that day, Clare shows up more and more in Irene's life, trying to get a taste of the life she left behind, even if it risks exposing the secret she's kept from her husband for so long.

 

The movie and shot in gorgeous black and white, trying to recreate the look of silent era films. Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga are both great in different ways. Thompson is reserved; happier to take the world in quietly. Negga is a ball of energy, disappointed if she doesn't become the center of any room she walks into. It's no surprise that Skarsgard is great at playing the rotten husband. Andre Holland is also great as Thompson's husband. It's an excellent cast giving wonderful performances top to bottom.

 

This does run into the Sundance "short story problem". The story is inert at times. Not much actually happens. It's a story often told through Thompson's looks and reactions. I wish I remembered the novella this is based on better. I read it in 15 years ago in college, making it the rare instance of a movie that I've read the source material for first. My memory of the book though is that it's more about observations of Irene. The film struggles to translate her thoughts into something visual or spoken. This was the movie I was looking forward to the most at Sundance, and I was disappointed by how disinterested I was by the time it ended. I would like to see it again whenever Netflix releases it to see if I could appreciate it more just for the performances, but at this point, consider me underwhelmed.

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend