PASSAGES: 3 ½ STARS. “an adult, sexual film, explicit in its emotional complexity.”
“Passages,” a new Paris-set erotic relationship drama from LGBTQ+ director Ira Sachs, now playing in theatres, is the story of an intolerable narcissist made tolerable by the lead performance from Franz Rogowski.
German actor Rogowski plays Tomas, a self-involved filmmaker fresh off the set of his latest movie. Controlling and uncompromising, his marriage to long-time partner Martin (Ben Whishaw) is beginning to fray around the edges. At the wrap party for the film, Martin doesn’t feel like dancing, so Tomas hits the floor with Agatha (Adèle Exarchopoulos). They dance, they flirt and spend the night together.
The next morning Tomas returns home to an understandably upset Martin. “I had sex with a woman,” Tomas says. “Can I tell you about it?” Martin is unenthusiastic as Tomas describes his “exciting” night with Agatha. Martin writes off the one-night stand as Tomas blowing off some steam. “This always happens when you finish a film,” he says, but their bond unravels further as Tomas becomes smitten with Agatha. He quickly moves in with her, leaving Martin high and dry.
When Agatha announces she is pregnant, Tomas feels the weight of his actions.
“Passages” is a study of toxic behavior. Tomas is brusque, unscrupulous, self-absorbed; concerned only with his own feelings and pleasure. It’s a trick to create a monster, a character devoid of any emotional intelligence, and yet still set him up as the object of desire. Rogowski slithers through the film, using magnetism to manipulate Martin and Agatha, drawing both into his tumultuous world. It’s an impressive performance, equal parts maddening and mesmeric.
Rogowski dominates the film, but Whishaw and Exarchopoulos are given latitude to be more than just victims of the charismatic Tomas. He is their weakness, but neither are weak characters. Both have scenes that display their strength and lives outside of Tomas’s toxic circle.
“Passages” feels like a throwback to the erotic relationship films of the 1980s and 90s. It is an adult, sexual film with a couple explicit scenes, but more than that, it is explicit in its emotional complexity.
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