Sundance Film Festival: London 2023 - Passages

Passages is the latest project of Ira Sachs, following his trend of heated queer romances, dense with sexuality and constant interpersonal drama. It takes place in the city of love, and follows impulsive film director Tomas, played by Franz Rogowski, as he cheats on his boyfriend (Ben Whishaw) with a woman (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and then progressively makes things worse over the course of the film. It’s an interesting study of a completely self-absorbed and chaotic character, who seems to get by on confidence and self-assuredness alone. It’s almost a comedy setup, and indeed there are many moments of sometimes unintentional comedy surrounding Tomas and how he deals with the scenarios he constantly puts himself in.

But Passages is not a comedy, and it takes itself pretty seriously. The fact that the main character is a filmmaker should immediately signal that this comes from a personal place. And if that already isn’t indicative of the film’s intimacy, about every 15 minutes there’s a sex scene to remind you. There is nothing earth-shattering or politically charged about it – this is a story of a small man and his small world, and the small people within it, and the small ways in which he loses all of it. There’s a kind of mundane helplessness underlying it all – Tomas cycling between the same three or four locations, wearing the same clothes, having the same interactions over and over again. A larger-than-life character constrained by a tiny universe, with the only avenue to excitement resulting in people getting hurt. There is no redemption, no final twist, just the single, sad, predictable life of an entertaining personality.

Ira Sachs very transparently makes films that he wants to see – so that means beautiful people having sex and being terrible to each other, which is pretty great. There is a straightforwardness to it - even with the heavy emotions, subject matter, and explorations of sexuality, it’s easy watching, in the same sense an old-style melodrama can be. In making what he wants to see, Sachs appeals to an unexpectedly broad audience, specifically queer, who have been historically starved of this kind of film. It’s the age-old relatable tale of the impossible human struggle for greater meaning, told through sexually charged romance.

There is little doubt that Passages will strike a personal chord with many. For everyone else, it’s an excellent self-contained parable with a slow, tender atmosphere to it, perfect for moody viewing.