REVIEW: ‘Passages’ Is an Immersive and Complex Character Study

About halfway through the searing and sensual Passages from director Ira Sachs, Franz Rogowski’s Tomas stands upon a balcony, looming over a city while trying to emotionally manipulate his now ex-husband over the phone. He’s at his current girlfriend’s apartment, with whom he cheated on his ex. The scene is quiet, with only his part of the conversation heard, as he smokes and stands against a chilly night sky. He’s also decked out in a snakeskin jacket. Such is the contrast of subtle and bold in Sachs’s latest. Tomas’s nature has already been presented to us, this visual nod simply deepens the acknowledged understanding of the depths he will dig — slither to, perhaps — in order to wrangle his way in any and all situations. 

Tomas is a filmmaker who has recently completed production on his latest film, entering the more patiently paced throes of editing. While celebrating a night out for his birthday, he ends up sleeping with a woman, Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos). When he returns home and tells his husband, Martin (Ben Whishaw) he’s met with the kind of long-suffering contempt that suggests this isn’t the first time Tomas has acted out. 

Tomas says to Martin “I had sex with a woman. Can I tell you about it, please?” His language is peppered with these small pleasantries throughout the film, always presenting himself as an innocent bystander. “Why can’t you just help me?” he later asks when growing frustrated with his love and attraction for Agathe while still wanting to maintain his relationship with Martin. A habitual charmer who will spend a night out wrapping himself around the newest company only to critique them the moment out of earshot, he’s as insecure as he is brazen. He’s immediately threatened when Martin begins to explore another relationship with author Amad (Erwan Kepoa Falé) and the way in which he’s able to bounce between both relationships based on his need for immediate gratification is astonishing. 

Written by Mauricio Zacharias and Sachs, the film balances a story of infidelity that twists and turns through the characters’ impulses as they grapple with Tomas’s inability to not be in constant motion. Moving with a sensual fluidity, Rogowski delivers a commanding performance befitting a character who yearns for such constant attention. Tomas’s neediness is played off through his movement, as he gains momentum in the space of Agathe or Martin, curling around them. His cruelty is delivered with a sense of curiosity, weaponizing sex as a tool to further gain the upper hand, even if often the camera sits as to see Agathe and Martin in the more sexually dominant roles. 

While this is Rogowski’s film, Whishaw and Exarchopoulos are similarly extraordinary. The former brings with him a level of sturdiness that only begins to crumble when he’s told point blank that his relationship with Tomas will hurt both of them, while Exarchopoulos wears her frustration and intrigue on her face. Watch the intricate, subtle twitch of their faces in a meeting the two share that gives way to one of the greatest confrontations of the film. 

Dialogue-driven and anchored by tremendous performances that are able to deliver the verbal sparring as well as the necessary physicalities, the film excels too in the technical. Most notable, as mentioned at the start, are the costumes. Every outfit the three wear is perfectly constructed to fit the wearer. There are Tomas’s which are clear, vibrant expressions of self such as leopard print pants and mesh crop tops distract his scene partners from his more venomous underbelly. Agathe and her bodycon dresses and bold reds enter as the temptress. Martin, meanwhile, is often adorned in cozy sweaters but in more revealing moments show him in a red slip gown, his own ability to tempt clear and pointed, his silk blues a deliberate contrast to the reds of Tomas. 

Passages delivers a story that shows a complete understanding of its characters — even the parts they themselves don’t see or understand. Sachs’s direction echoes by so often shooting scenes where we see only the back of Tomas’s head, the camera more interested in how others are reacting to him, understanding that the real truth of the moment is found in their response rather than in the bull Tomas is spewing. It’s why one of the most honest interactions is found in a sex scene, the camera only focused on their bodies rather than their faces or words, lost to lust and passion and unable to lie in the midst of it. There’s a profound understanding of broken relationships and physical, carnal impulses when the truest moment is followed by one of the cruelest. 

In Passages, Sachs along with his formidable cast delivers a story of searing want and destructive egos. Shot with an often cold and brittle glow, the story understands that any stability found within the three is momentary at best. There is no peace to be had when there’s someone like Rogowski’s Tomas in the midst, and the film captures that insatiable need with a fluid direction that painstakingly watches as relationships crumble, reassemble, and blow over again. Alluring, wound taut, and shot with a gaze that understands the compelling nature of the characters, Passages is one of the best films of the year.

Passages arrives in theaters August 4.