Passing2021

The way it explores characters and two sides of it and also doesn’t explicitly explain what’s exactly going on. You can just read it from Irene’s perspective, her anxiousness, jealousy and all. Is it all just in her mind or what she thinks about Clare’s action and sudden attraction towards her society is all true? This is not just about black and white. It’s much more than that. Loved the way it’s left all ambiguous. You get the sense of every characters without much explaining explicitly. Also Brian’s character change immediately he meets Clare. He had a bad image about her initially. The equation between her and Clare is also not too perfect. I thought initially it was getting into some beautiful affair but other time it seemed Clare (Who is passing as a white and convinced enough whites including racist husband that she’s not coloured) was trying to get back to her society, wanting the life Irene has which she calls it “Happy, safe and free”. These two sides of it made me question so many things in this, not just about racial thing. Narrative is purposely deceptive. You meet Irene as a woman who is very sensitive towards violence around her, her anxiety kicks in whenever she hears something about it. She’s not happy when her husband tells the violent story that happened in their city to their kids. She tells him “There will be time when they will get to know horrible things in the world”. She wants her kids to be happy and doesn’t want to bother them with all these information about the cruel world we live in. We made to think her life is perfect initially but it all changes once Clare enters Irene’s life. So in that way narrative is deceptive and all the characters aren’t what they seem to be initially. So these themes conclude in an explosive ending that again made me dissect the characters and their motives. The characters are so conscious of their identity in the film that I as a viewer starts judging some of the characters in the end and start doubting them for their actions. This overall tone is a master stroke and equally performances are terrific.