‘Passages’ review: Entanglements in love and sex | Sundance

Ira Sachs's Passages tracks the misadventures of a married gay film director as his affair with a woman implodes his marriage.

“He knows me well.”

“So that's why you left him.”

When we first meet German filmmaker Tomas (Franz Rogowski, who we last saw in the underrated Great Freedom), he is directing the final scene of his latest movie. We watch him as he instructs an actor to enter the scene down a flight of stairs. Then he makes him do it again… and again. Each time he notices something else wrong with the way he enters the scene—he's swinging his arms oddly, he's walking without intention. We'll see Tomas do something similar throughout Passages, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, except this time to the people in his life. That is expecting them to act one way—the way that is best for him and his wants—and getting frustrated when they don't follow the script he's written for them in his head.

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The primary victim of his special brand of narcissism is his long-suffering soft-spoken husband Martin (Ben Whishaw).

And as much as Tomas's abrasiveness grates him, he stays by his side—something we see with all couples but feels precisely penetrating for gay couples. Writer-director Ira Sachs understands the gravitational pull of a man like Tomas—his confidence imbues a charm and magnetism—but he also knows that with gravity things eventually come crashing to the ground. And often, Tomas is the incendiary of his own (satisfying) demise. 

When he meets teacher Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos) out at the club after a day of shooting, he's just been slighted by Martin who chooses to go home rather than dance with him (the nerve!). His response, to sleep with Agathe and then return home to very openly and boastfully say, “I slept with a woman last night.” What reaction does he want out of Martin—disgust, jealousy, anger, admiration? Whatever it is, he doesn't get it, which furthers his resolve to pursue Agathe. After one of another one of their trists Tomas professes his love for her. She responds, bluntly but without malice, “you say it when it works for you.”

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It's that direct but rich with subtext dialogue that makes Passages such a fascinating watch despite its uncomplicated appearance.

Sachs says so much about its protagonist without saying much at all. We never get to see Tomas's work nor his marriage to Martin prior to its immolation—we see just a narrow sliver of his life. However, the portrait of an egomaniacal artist who lets the bounds of his artistry seep into his personal life is vivid—similar to definitely real and not fictional composer Lydia Tár. 

The movie transforms into a triangle then a quadrangle of entanglements as Tomas pursues his relationship with Agathe and Martin moves on with fellow writer Ahmad (Erwan Kepoa Falé). There are arguments, unexpected twists, Tomas' inability to let people live a moment of their lives without thinking of him, and sex. Sachs directs these sex scenes with vigor, passion, and pure eroticism. However, it's not just for exploitative show. For someone like Tomas, sex, passion, and desire—and admiration—are mistaken for love. But what he truly loves is the attention—as a Leo, I feel read. Ragowski is astounding in his ability to be a self-absorbed monster, but have us crave his presence on screen—like a trainwreck you can't seem to turn away from.

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Eventually, the magnetism that draws people to Tomas begins to repulse them and the gravity that kept them in orbit becomes weaker.

Essentially, his life goes off script and he's not good at improv. While Passages could have easily relied to melodramatics, Sachs keeps each character and interaction grounded. No line of dialogue feels ingenuine, even when they're loaded guns that rip through each character. “I want my life back,” one character says. It's perhaps the first genuine thing anyone says in the movie—other than a barnburner dinner scene featuring Caroline Chaniolleau as Agathe's mother and Ahmad's final requiem. Ira Sachs introduces us to the characters of Passages when their lives intersect and tangle into a mess of complications. By the end, Whishaw, whose remarkable portrayal of a gay man finding his strength and independence, untangles the knot and leaves us (and Tomas) flooded with emotion. 

If you enjoyed Passages, you might also like:

• TAR
• Great Freedom
• Fair Play
• Marriage Story

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Hey! I'm Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I'm also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

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