''Passages'' is a 2023 French
romantic drama film
Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their ...
co-written and directed by
Ira Sachs
Ira Sachs (born November 21, 1965) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. Sachs started his career directing short films such as ''Vaudeville'' (1991) and ''Lady'' (1993) before making his feature film debut with ''The Delta (film), The Delta'' (19 ...
and starring
Franz Rogowski,
Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Whishaw, various accolades, including three British Academy Television Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...
, and
Adèle Exarchopoulos
Adèle Exarchopoulos (; born 22 November 1993) is a French actress. She had her career breakthrough starring as Adèle in the romance '' Blue Is the Warmest Colour'' (2013). At the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, she became the youngest person in the ...
. It depicts a same-sex male couple whose marriage encounters a crisis when one of the men begins an affair with a young woman.
The film had its world premiere at the
2023 Sundance Film Festival
The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022.
Films U.S. Dramatic Competition
* '' The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee
...
, and was released theatrically in France on 28 June 2023 by SBS Distribution.
Plot
Tomas, a German filmmaker based in Paris, has completed his latest film. At the wrap party, he meets Agathe, a young primary school teacher, and dances with her after his husband, Martin, an English printer, declines to dance with him. Tomas goes to Agathe's home for an after-party, and the two have sex.
Upon arriving home the following day, Tomas, who slept over at Agathe's, admits to Martin that he had sex with a woman and felt something he had not felt in a long time. Tomas argues that their marriage is deteriorating and enraged by Martin's refusal to discuss it, starts packing a suitcase to leave but is stopped by Martin. Before leaving, Martin kisses Tomas and assures him they will overcome this. Later, Agathe visits Tomas at the editing room of his film. They have sex again.
Tomas and Martin travel to their country house and ultimately discuss their lives together. Tomas expresses dissatisfaction with their too-comfortable and riskless relationship, while Martin accuses him of falling in love with Agathe.
Back in Paris, Martin meets Amad, a writer and novelist, through a mutual friend at a restaurant. When Tomas arrives, he is somewhat hostile towards Amad and later tells Martin he finds Amad "an arrogant prick". As they leave, Tomas claims to be heading to the editing room but goes to Agathe's instead and spends the night there. In the morning, after Agathe sings Tomas a lullaby from her childhood, he confesses he has fallen in love with her.
Tomas and Martin officially separate, and Tomas moves out of their apartment into Agathe's. While packing, he stumbles upon Amad's book, which Martin is reading. On his way out, Martin informs Tomas he will put the country house up for sale, as he does not wish to own anything with Tomas anymore.
Martin begins a relationship with Amad, whom Tomas runs into when he uses his key to enter Martin's apartment unannounced; Tomas storms out. After Tomas turns up at Martin's workplace to share that his film had a negative first screening, Martin asks him for the apartment keys back.
While at a restaurant with Agathe and friends, Tomas sees Martin arrive with friends, but the two men avoid speaking to each other. Tomas later comes by the apartment to return the keys, inviting himself to spend the night and come with Martin to the country house early the next morning for repairs, claiming it is his property as well. At bedtime, Tomas enters Martin's room and they have sex. In the morning, Tomas reveals to Martin that Agathe is pregnant.
Tomas arrives late to dinner with Agathe's parents at her house. They interrogate him about his plans to support Agathe and their child, as well as his past with Martin, to which he is hostile and defensive.
Tomas returns to Martin's apartment, telling him that audiences loved the recent screening of his film. He kisses Martin and invites himself inside. Tomas proposes that he and Martin raise the baby as a family, confessing he is confused about his feelings for Agathe and misses being with a man. Martin immediately breaks up with Amad, who says neither Tomas nor Martin will survive the relationship.
Some time later, Agathe, Tomas, Martin, and friends gather at the country house. Agathe listens to the two men have sex from the other bedroom. Tomas later climbs into Agathe's bed and embraces her while she is crying.
Agathe severs all contact with Tomas. She meets Martin for lunch, where she reveals to him that she has undergone an abortion, stating that although she wants a family, she realised she would disappear among the three of them. Martin holds back tears, and they say goodbye.
Upon returning home, Martin breaks up with Tomas, refusing to accompany him to Venice and telling him to never contact him again. Tomas stops by Agathe's classroom, begging her to forgive him and inviting her to join him on his trip, but she rejects him as well. He then rides his bicycle aimlessly through the city.
Cast
*
Franz Rogowski as Tomas Freiburg
*
Ben Whishaw
Benjamin John Whishaw (born 14 October 1980) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Whishaw, various accolades, including three British Academy Television Awards, two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...
as Martin
*
Adèle Exarchopoulos
Adèle Exarchopoulos (; born 22 November 1993) is a French actress. She had her career breakthrough starring as Adèle in the romance '' Blue Is the Warmest Colour'' (2013). At the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, she became the youngest person in the ...
as Agathe
* Erwan Kepoa Falé as Amad
*
William Nadylam as Clément
* Caroline Chaniolleau as Agathe's mother
*
Olivier Rabourdin as Agathe's father
Production
Filming began on 15 November 2021 in Paris. The costume designer was Khadija Zeggaï.
Release
''Passages'' premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
on 23 January 2023. Shortly thereafter,
Mubi
Mubi (; stylized as MUBI; the Auteurs before 2010) is a global streaming platform, production company and film distributor. MUBI produces and theatrically distributes films by emerging and established filmmakers, which are exclusively available ...
acquired distribution rights in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Latin America; the streamer would subsequently acquire rights in Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and the Benelux as well. It screened in the Panorama section of the
73rd Berlin International Film Festival
The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since 70th Berlin International Film Festival, the 70th in 2020. The fe ...
in February 2023. It was also invited to the
27th Lima Film Festival in the Acclaimed section, where it screened on 10 August 2023.
The film was released theatrically in France on 28 June 2023 by SBS Distribution, and was released in
select theatres in the United States on 4 August 2023.
U.S. rating
Ahead of its U.S. release, the film received an
NC-17 rating from the
Motion Picture Association
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...
. Sachs called the rating "a form of cultural censorship that is quite dangerous, particularly in a culture which is already battling, in such extreme ways, the possibility of LGBT imagery to exist". Mubi issued a statement calling the decision "unexpected" and "deeply disappoint
ng and said it would release the film in the United States without a rating.
Reception
On the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Elevated by a remarkable Franz Rogowski performance, ''Passages'' adds another smart, deeply humanistic film to director/co-writer Ira Sachs' estimable filmography."
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which uses a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
, assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100, based on 41 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The character of Tomas drew comparisons to the life of the German director
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (; 31 May 1945 – 10 June 1982), sometimes credited as R. W. Fassbinder, was a German filmmaker, dramatist and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the major figures and catalysts of the New German Cinema moveme ...
.
Filmmakers
Chloe Domont
Chloe Domont (born September 2, 1987) is an American television and film writer and director, best known for her 2023 film directorial debut, '' Fair Play'', an erotic thriller about gender dynamics in the workplace.
Early life and education
She ...
,
Andrew Haigh,
Zoe Lister-Jones
Zoe Lister-Jones (born September 1, 1982) is an American actress and filmmaker who co-starred as Jen Collins Short in the CBS sitcom ''Life in Pieces'' from 2015 to 2019. She is also known for her roles in the television shows '' Delocated'' (20 ...
,
Rachel Morrison
Rachel Morrison (born April 27, 1978) is an American cinematographer and director.
For her work on ''Mudbound'' (2017), Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
Morrison also made her featur ...
and
James Ponsoldt
James Ponsoldt is an American film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed the drama films '' Off the Black'' (2006) and '' Smashed'' (2012), the romantic comedy-drama ''The Spectacular Now'' (2013), and the dramas '' The End of the Tour'' ( ...
all cited ''Passages'' among their favorite films of 2023.
Accolades
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Ira Sachs
2023 films
2023 independent films
2023 LGBTQ-related films
2023 romantic drama films
2020s English-language films
2020s French films
2020s French-language films
English-language French films
Films about adultery in France
Films directed by Ira Sachs
Films set in Paris
Films shot in Paris
French independent films
French LGBTQ-related films
French romantic drama films
LGBTQ-related controversies in film
LGBTQ-related controversies in the United States
LGBTQ-related romantic drama films
Films about male bisexuality
Rating controversies in film
English-language independent films
English-language romantic drama films