Well, this was a flagrant disappointment. This isn’t a complete misfire – the black-and-white cinematography is stunning and beautiful, there are some fascinating racially charged moments, and the chemistry between Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson draws you in. Alexander Skarsgard has a way with playing characters that make your skin crawl, and I couldn’t help seeing echoes of Perry snarling in anger from his turn in Big Little Lies. Beyond that, though, there isn’t much here. The script just feels empty and the pacing is often brutally slow. I never felt like we knew enough about either of these central characters or their relationship with each other, particularly before the events that occur in the film. The ending is tragic and upsetting, but I don’t think it has the power that it could’ve had with a stronger script behind it. Passing is filled to the brim with great ideas, but these ideas never grow or evolve during the runtime. Instead, this mostly goes in circles and keeps reiterating the same points over and over again.
