Frank Rogowski is Tomas, a young independent director in Paris. In the first scene, we see him rehearsing with an actor and telling him to go down the stairs again and again. He‘s tense, a perfectionist, gives it his all. Maybe it‘s this intensity that interests Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos), who has just broken up with her boyfriend. During the party after the party, they get together, and later Tomas tells his husband Martin (Ben Whishaw) about this exciting new experience: sleeping with a woman. He is unimpressed, “you‘re like this after every film shoot.“ But for Tomas it‘s more than a one-night-stand. Tomas soon moves in with Adèle and Martin gets together with writer Amad (Erwan Kepoa Falé), but their relationship starts up again soon after.

Ira Sachs‘ newest film is a portrait of a group of international artists in their 30s experimenting with lifestyles in an externally casual and internally uneasy way. At the center is narcissist Tomas who is only concerned with himself and upends everyone‘s life in the process. PASSAGES is an extremely physical film, carried by a fantastic ensemble. There‘s Tomas/Rogowski, curious, erratic, intense, with bodycon net shirts and baggy designer sweaters. There‘s Martin/Whishaw, thin, elegant, vulnerable, and flexible. Agathe/Exarchopoulos in her tight mini dresses and heavy boots seems unassailable and confident, but also prepared to fight. Amad/Falé, with his poised, calm nature, is on the sidelines, not letting the turbulence of the other three throw him off course. They, on the other hand, collide, let each other in, repel each other, build a pattern that could fit but then doesn‘t.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy