LONDON: The night that actor-director Rebecca Hall finished her first draft of “Passing,” she went to an event attended by none other than David Bowie. After getting into a conversation about the project, Bowie revealed that the Nella Larsen novel (upon which the movie is based) was one of his favorite books, and encouraged Hall to continue with what would be her directorial debut. It’s hard to imagine a more inspirational cheerleader and it goes a long way toward explaining the passion Hall clearly has for this monochromatic drama, now available in theaters and on Netflix.
In Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, Hall has found two leads whose enthusiasm for the project matches her own. Irene (Thompson) and Clare (Negga) are former childhood friends who reconnect as adults in 1920s New York. Both are able to pass as white women in a city split by racism, but while Irene lives in Harlem with her black husband, she is shocked to learn that Clare has climbed the societal ladder and married a white man — played by Alexander Skarsgard, who is given the unpleasant task of playing an overtly racist, intensely unlikeable man with no clue as to his wife’s heritage. Despite Irene’s misgivings, the two women begin to reconnect, with Clare worming her way into Irene’s circle of friends and, increasingly, her family. The two actors give a characterful masterclass, imbuing their interwoven roles with complex obsession and repressed longing. Thompson, in particular, turns in an astonishing performance, balancing Irene’s growing fear of Clare’s encroachment with a feeling of resentment of the freedom she so flagrantly threatens to squander.
Hall frames the story beautifully — shooting in black and white, as well as in 4:3 aspect — creating a feeling of increasing claustrophobia as the story builds to an inevitably tragic conclusion. Though the film sometimes gets a little bogged down during the slower beats, this first-time director demonstrates a deft hand at navigating a problematic issue, handling the story and the complex characters with verve and sensitivity.