Passages
**This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Just because the main character of a film is profoundly unlikable does not mean the film is without a moral compass. The strongest thing that Ira Sachs does in “Passages” is that he does not let Tomas off the hook for his toxic behavior; rather than having it all, he has nothing, just a film premiere to get to. That may not seem like a punishment when it comes to regular audiences, because he’s still a filmmaker, but it seems as though filmmaking is simply a job to him- having his passions met by people, whether it’s Martin or Agathe, is more important to him. In the end, people like Tomas never really learn, they will just go where they can have their passions met, starting the cycle again.
At the beginning of the film, we watch Tomas (Franz Rogowski) on set as he is directing his husband, Martin (Ben Whishaw), during a scene. Once shooting is done, Tomas finds himself in a passionate affair with Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos). Martin immediately knows what’s up, and the pair split; he has met an author (Erwan Kepoa Falé) whom seems to be there for him more than Tomas. But Tomas cannot let go of Martin, even as he and Agathe seem ready to have a child. Eventually, the couple reunites, but the idea of a shared relationship doesn’t sit well with either Martin or Agathe.
Tomas is at the center of Sachs’s and Mauricio Zacharias‘s screenplay, and while I think that is the correct choice for the film, it also means we have an unrepentant narcissist at the center of the film. Rogowski’s performance is good, but it was hard to empathize with the character. He’s a slave to his passions, while both Martin and Agathe would simply want him to be there when they need it. This film isn’t as heavy as it probably should be regarding the issues at its heart, but it’s also not light enough to be genuinely entertaining. “Passages” has a strong narrative center, but doesn’t quite know how best to approach it, even with three solid performances in it.
