Five Articles In Praise of Rebecca Hall’s Directorial Debut, Passing | Chaz’s Journal

“Larsen’s feelings about Irene are embedded in her narrative choices and in her chilled reserve, in the archness of her tone and in winding sentences that seem fairly benign until the final telling clause. Hall’s approach is warmer and less intellectually distancing. Onscreen, you like Irene right away, partly because there’s a human being (Tessa Thompson, no less) whose presence and persona instantly draw you to the character. But in little and big moments — in coyly and sharply delivered lines, in hesitant and abrupt movements — Hall and Thompson play with and subvert your sympathies, pushing you far enough away so that you can actually see, and become equally invested in, Clare too. Thompson and Negga are both tremendous. Although Irene is the protagonist and the story is organized around her, the character’s complexities largely emerge in her relationship with Clare. The two reflect each other, but they’re in a hall of mirrors in which every pane presents a different image: Black, white, attentive wife, independent woman. Again and again, you watch these two characters discreetly or openly watching each other — Irene’s eyes are darting and demure, Clare’s searching and intense — creating a network of looks. And, as the story progresses, and as Irene continues on about her old friend’s attractiveness (“aren’t you lovely”), her gaze becomes persistent, troubled and erotic. Hall fits an extraordinary amount into her version of this streamlined, deceptively simple story of two women whose lives intersect in ways they don’t or can’t fully grasp.”

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“Movie of the Week for October 29th, 2021: ‘Passing’“: The Alliance of Women Film Journalists selected the film as their Movie of the Week, and compiled the comments made by various members about the film, including those of Pam Grady quoted below.

“Actor Rebecca Hall makes a haunting writing/directing debut with her adaptation of Harlem Renaissance writer Nella Larson’s 1929 novel. Childhood friends Irene (Tessa Thompson) and Clare (Ruth Negga) are delighted to renew their relationship as adults – at least, initially. Biracial women who can pass as white, both lean into that ability within a racist society. But Irene, married to African-American doctor Brian (Andre Holland) and the mother of two sons, is a proud Black woman who passes only on occasion, while Clare lives in disguise, having married John (Alexander Skarsgård), a vicious racist, for the creature comforts he can provide. The reunion with Irene does not just revive an important friendship, it pulls Clare back to her old neighborhood, reigniting old jealousies (and perhaps desires) with Irene and risking John discovering her secret. Brilliantly shot by cinematographer Edward Grau in luminous black and white, the film recreates both a bygone era and the racism that still plagues society, underlined by Thompson and Negga’s dazzling performances.”

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“How to Get a Black-Led Indie Film Funded in Hollywood“: According to Vulture’s Joseph Bien-Kahn.