Passing (film)

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. Irene is married to a Black doctor. She learns that Clare has been "passing" as white and has married a wealthy white man from Chicago.

Clare invites Irene to her hotel room, so they can talk more openly. Clare explains that after her father died, she was raised by her two white aunts. She married her husband, John, when she was very young. They are interrupted by John, who openly despises and degrades Black people, unaware of his wife's or Irene's racial background. Irene leaves the hotel, angry with Clare, and refuses to respond when Clare writes to her. However, after Clare unexpectedly shows up at Irene's home and apologizes for the encounter, they rekindle their friendship.

Clare wants to associate with Black people again and invites herself to a dance party that Irene is organizing. Most of the guests at the party find Clare charming, including Irene's husband, Brian. That evening, Irene reveals Clare's secret to her friend, novel writer Hugh Wentworth, who seems less impressed with Clare than the others.

As time passes, Clare becomes involved in all aspects of Irene's life, often joining Irene and Brian on their outings. At first, Irene seems happy to have Clare around, but soon becomes disillusioned with her and starts to resent her presence. Brian, also dissatisfied, attempts to teach his and Irene's children about some of the harshness of racism in America, as Irene refuses to move anywhere else. Irene believes that the children are too young to learn about the worst events, and she and Brian argue about it, further straining their marriage. Brian invites Clare to a tea party from which Irene purposely excluded her.

When out shopping with her friend Felise, who is obviously Black, Irene encounters John. She hurries away, as he begins to realize the truth about his wife's racial background. Irene tries to warn Clare but decides against it when she is unable to reach her by phone.

As Brian, Irene, and Clare are on their way to Felise's Christmas party on the top floor of a six-story building, Irene asks Clare what she would do if John ever learned the truth. Clare replies that she would move back to Harlem to be with Irene, who is troubled by this. During the party, Irene remains silent, avoiding the other guests. She opens a large vertical window to smoke.

Suddenly, John angrily forces himself into the apartment demanding to see Clare. She remains calm and moves next to Irene, who is standing by the window. John accuses her of being a "dirty liar" and lunges towards her. Clare falls backward out of the window, but it is not clear whether John or Irene pushed her or if she deliberately jumped. Notably, this ambiguity is explicitly adapted from Nella Larsen's 1929 text.

In horror, the other guests rush outside, not knowing whether Clare is dead. Irene slowly goes downstairs, where the police are questioning guests. Brian says that he believes John pushed Clare, but when asked, Irene says that she believes the fall was an accident. The film ends with the police declaring death by misadventure, Irene sobbing in Brian's arms, and Clare's body being carried away by medics.

• 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

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.{{cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/rebecca-hall-passing-movie-tessa-thompson-ruth-negga-nella-larsen-novel-1202440801/ |title=Rebecca Hall To Make Directorial Debut With 'Passing'; Tessa Thompson & Ruth Negga Star In Adaptation Of 1920s Novel |last=N'Duka |first=Amanda |date=August 6, 2018 |work=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=November 9, 2019}}

Hall had begun writing the screenplay a decade earlier, upon reflecting on her own family's history. Her American mother, opera singer Maria Ewing, was of mixed race and some of her relatives passed as white, while her father was a white British film and theatre director.

When Hall presented Negga with a screenplay, the actress decided to collaborate to get the film made. She was surprised that Larsen's novel was not better known, as she had been "completely astounded,” when reading it.{{cite web|last=Yamato|first=Jen|url=https://www.latimes.com:443/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-02-01/passing-sundance-negga-thompson-hall|title=Why Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson were willing to drop everything for 'Passing' |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=2021-02-01|access-date=2021-01-02}} Thompson said that the film would be shot in black and white, to represent the texture of the period.{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tessa-thompson-working-first-time-directors-im-happy-get-them-as-early-as-1165883 |title=Tessa Thompson on Working With First-Time Directors: "I'm Happy to Get Them as Early as Possible" |last=Geschwind |first=Max |date=December 3, 2018 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=November 9, 2019}} The choice to shoot the film in black and white was also inspired by social visibility. Jazz Tangcay writes of this influence on Hall's choice:

"With colorism as a theme, alongside sexism, race, class and gender, Hall gravitated to monochrome — in particular, to remove the idea of complexion and give greater visual freedom to the storytelling."{{Cite web |last=Tangcay |first=Jazz |date=2021-10-29 |title=‘Passing’ Cinematographer Eduard Grau on Rebecca Hall: ‘She Focused on Making a Movie With Visually Striking Poetry’ |url=https://variety.com/2021/artisans/spotlight/passing-cinematography-rebecca-hall-1235100415/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

With less than a month to go before filming and production set to begin, Hall was still $500,000 short on her desired $10 million budget. She applied for two grants, to cover the difference.{{cite news |url= https://www.vulture.com/2021/11/passing-movie-significant-productions.html |title= How to Get a Black-Led Indie Film Funded in Hollywood |author= Joseph Bien-Kahn |date= November 10, 2021 |website= Vulture |access-date=November 10, 2021}} Filming began in November 2019, in New York City.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/hbo-max-show-tokyo-vice-casting-news-69314/ |title=Another Newly Announced HBO Max Show Has Started Casting |last=Welch |first=Rebecca |date=October 30, 2019 |magazine=Backstage |access-date=November 9, 2019}}

The film is in black and white. 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".{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Benjamin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/31/passing-review-rebecca-halls-elegant-but-inert-directorial-debut|title=Passing review – Rebecca Hall's elegant but inert directorial debut|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2021-01-31|access-date=2021-02-02}} The film uses an anamorphic Lomo lens. Cinematographer Eduard Grau said, “We found they gave this beautiful softness around the edges, which gave the frame a painterly quality that was almost impressionistic,”{{Cite web |last=Tangcay |first=Jazz |date=2021-10-29 |title=‘Passing’ Cinematographer Eduard Grau on Rebecca Hall: ‘She Focused on Making a Movie With Visually Striking Poetry’ |url=https://variety.com/2021/artisans/spotlight/passing-cinematography-rebecca-hall-1235100415/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}

Into the third week of filming, the Hugh Wentworth role, originally intended for Benedict Cumberbatch, remained uncast. 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.

Passing had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sundance-film-festival-announces-2021-lineup-1234854059/|title=Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright|website=Variety|first=Peter|last=Debruge|date=December 15, 2020|access-date=December 15, 2020}} Shortly after, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film for around $15 million.{{cite web|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-netflix-grabs-passing-starring-tessa-thompson-ruth-nega|title= Sundance: Netflix Grabs 'Passing' Starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth Nega|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Mia|last=Galuppo|date=February 3, 2021|access-date=February 3, 2021}} It also screened at the New York Film Festival on October 3, 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2021/films/passing/|title=Passing|website=New York Film Festival|access-date=August 20, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ny-film-festival-2021-main-slate-vaccination-requirements-1234995532/|title=NY Film Festival Unveils Main Slate, Sets Vaccination Requirement for 2021 Edition|website=The Hollywood Reporter|first=Hilary|last=Lewis|date=August 10, 2021|access-date=August 20, 2021}} The film had a limited theatrical release on October 27, 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on November 10.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/08/netflix-dates-fall-movies-whopping-42-movies-coming-leonardo-dicaprio-dwayne-johnson-gal-gadot-jennifer-lawrence-benedict-cumberbatch-1234819895/|title=Netflix Dates Fall Movies: A Whopping 42 Movies Coming At You|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Mike Jr.|last=Fleming|date=August 23, 2021|access-date=August 23, 2021}}

According to Samba TV, the film was watched in 653,000 households over its first three days of release.{{Cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=November 15, 2021 |title='Red Notice': Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot & Ryan Reynolds Netflix Movie KOs 'Shang-Chi' In Streaming Debut Per Samba TV

|url= https://deadline.com/2021/11/red-notice-viewership-netflix-record-dwayne-johnson-gal-gadot-ryan-reynolds-shang-chi-1234874738/ |access-date=November 16, 2021 |website=Deadline Hollywood}}

Hall’s adaptation changes a few key elements. Critics and scholars have chimed in on these differences to analyze the film in terms of its context as an adaptation.

Editorial writer Cady Lang discusses some important changes. In the book, Irene and Clare have their initial reencounter on a rooftop in Chicago. Two years of written correspondence follow before the two reunite once again. Instead of setting the initial reencounter between Irene and Clare in Chicago, the pivotal moment—and the entirety of the film—take place in New York. Additionally, the passage of time is condensed between their meetings.{{Cite web |last=Lang |first=Cady |date=2021-11-12 |title=What To Know About Passing and Its Author Before Watching the Netflix Adaptation |url=https://time.com/6116168/passing-book-netflix/ |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=TIME |language=en}} In turn, as observed by critic Rafael Walker, the film surrenders parts of the narrative's temporal and erotic aspects. Hall’s choice to condense the time frame makes Irene's yearning less subtle when compared to the text. This is owed to Hall's reliance on lengthy, impassioned gazes between Irene and Clare.{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Rafael |date=November 10, 2021 |title=Passing into Film: Rebecca Hall’s Adaptation of Nella Larsen |url=https://modernismmodernity.org/forums/posts/walker-passing-film-hall-adaptation-larsen |website=Modernism/modernity}}

Missing from the film adaptation is Gertrude—a light-skinned Black woman who does not pass for white—and her husband—and Fred, a white man who takes no issue with his wife's race. Walker comments on this omission: "The inclusion of Gertrude’s story is Larsen’s way of showing the variability of biracial life and interracial love, providing a middle way between the extremes of Irene and Clare."

Another change is that Hall places Irene and her husband Brian in the same bedroom, a departure from Larsen’s choice to place the married couple in separate rooms. Walker observes this choice in connection to the film's take on the Redfield’s marriage, and Clare’s role within this dynamic. Walker specifically observes that such a choice implies contentment and satisfaction within their marriage prior to her arrival. This contrasts with Larsen’s interpretation, which indeed portrays the Redfields' discord from the beginning. Walker offers that this change is an attempt to soften Irene's characterization.

The film is shot in black and white. American scholar Imani Perry writes, "the shades of gray do another kind of work in Passing. We are reminded that our sense of self shifts according to our encounters and relationships with others."{{Cite web |date=2021-11-11 |title='Passing' Is a Film About Race from the Black Gaze |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a38162469/passing-is-a-film-about-race-from-the-black-gaze/ |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=Harper's BAZAAR |language=en-US}} Similar to the narrative changes discussed by Walker, Perry also writes of the visible queer subtext: "A piercing gaze, a discomfited mouth, illumination, and shadow all play into the appeal of dangerous uncertainties and suppressed desires."

In the text Passing Bodies, Lisa Mendleman and Octavio R. González evaluates the films distinct visual cues as follows:

Hall’s adaptation relies on the motif of reflective visual surfaces, especially mirrors, to portray racial passing and racial perception, as well as other aspects of modern identity, through visual mediation. Through the use of mirrors, doubled reflections, tricks of perspective, and other optical motifs, Hall cinematically evokes Larsen’s psychological portrait and reproduces the novel’s commentary on the unreliability of racial coding as visual unreliability"Mendelman, Lisa; González, Octavio R. (2024-07-31), Sherrard-Johnson, Cherene (ed.), "Passing Bodies", The Cambridge Companion to the Black Body in American Literature (1 ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 176–188, doi:10.1017/9781009204200.015, {{ISBN|978-1-009-20420-0}}, retrieved 2025-03-27

File:Ruth Negga (35373089553) (cropped).jpg's performance in the film garnered widespread critical praise.]]

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|91|7.7|248|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.|ref=yes|access-date=April 20, 2025}} {{MC film|1=85|2=46}}{{cite Metacritic|id=passing|type=movie|title=Passing|access-date=November 27, 2021}}{{cbignore}}

Kevin Maher of The Times gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it, "a mesmerizing, deeply disquieting experience."{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/passing-review-lies-and-disguise-in-1920s-new-york-dxmgv7630 |title='Passing' review — lies and disguise in 1920s New York |work=The Times |first=Kevin |last=Maher |access-date=December 27, 2021}} Jessica Kiang, writing for Variety, said that the film is "unerring, deceptively delicate, quiet and immaculate, like that final fall of snow."{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/passing-review-rebecca-hall-1234896702/ |title='Passing' Review: Rebecca Hall's Subtle, Provocative Directorial Debut |last=Kiang |first=Jessica |work=Variety |date=January 31, 2021 |access-date=February 1, 2021}}

In his review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw praised Hall's direction, calling the film, "a very stylish piece of work from Hall."{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/28/passing-review-rebecca-hall-racial-identity-tessa-thompson-ruth-negga |title='Passing' review – Rebecca Hall's stylish and subtle study of racial identity |work=The Guardian |first=Peter |last=Bradshaw |date=October 28, 2021 |access-date=December 27, 2021}} Benjamin Lee of The Guardian, gave the film a negative review of 2 out of 5 stars, arguing that it had "disappointing lack of verve" and was "inert".

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 four out of four stars and wrote of their performances: "What Thompson and Negga accomplish on screen, in this extraordinarily detailed portrait, becomes a master class in incremental revelations."{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/michael-phillips/sc-ent-passing-netflix-review-20211109-cereg46f4bg47iyheviexr4s2u-story.html |title=Review: Rebecca Hall's excellent 'Passing' tells a story of racial identity in 1920s New York |work=Chicago Tribune |first=Michael |last=Phillips |access-date=December 27, 2021}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/passing-film-review-sundance-2021-4125016/ |title='Passing': Film Review {{pipe}} Sundance 2021 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |first=David |last=Rooney|year=2021 |access-date=December 27, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/30/passing-review-rebecca-hall-nella-larsen-ruth-negga-tessa-thompson |title='Passing' review – life is anything but black and white in Rebecca Hall's smart period drama |work=The Guardian |first=Simran |last=Hans |date=October 30, 2021 |access-date=December 27, 2021}} In Time Magazine{{'}}s annual list, Stephanie Zacharek ranked Negga's performance among the ten best of 2021.{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/6128150/best-movie-performances-2021/ |title=The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2021 |magazine=Time |first=Stephanie |last=Zacharek |access-date=December 27, 2021}}

Filmmaker Antonio Campos praised the film, calling it "one of the strongest debut features I've ever seen. Rebecca [Hall]'s grasp of visual storytelling is astounding. It's one thing to know where to put the camera and compose a shot, but to understand how to convey your themes visually is something that even experienced filmmakers struggle with. Rebecca's use of negative space, light and shadow, along with her choices in what was shown and what wasn't to convey not only suspense but her characters' internal struggles, exhibits such a mastery of craft that it is hard to believe she hasn’t been making films her whole life."{{Cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/lists/directors-favorite-films-2021-olivia-wilde-george-miller/|title=Directors on Directors: Filmmakers Analyze 2021 Favorites From ‘In the Heights’ to ‘The Harder They Fall’|magazine=Variety|date=December 16, 2021|access-date=March 11, 2025}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|8893974}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes|passing_2021}}
• [https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Passing-Read-The-Screenplay.pdf Official screenplay]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passing (film)}}

Category:2021 films

Category:2021 directorial debut films

Category:2021 independent films

Category:2021 romantic drama films

Category:2020s American films

Category:2020s English-language films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:American romantic drama films

Category:Film4 Productions films

Category:Films about race and ethnicity

Category:Films based on American novels

Category:Films scored by Dev Hynes

Category:Films set in the 1920s

Category:Films set in Harlem

Category:English-language independent films

Category:English-language romantic drama films

Category:Films by English women directors