Netflix releases the official trailer for the black-and-white, 4:3 aspect ratio film Passing, starring Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga and fan-favorite Tessa Thompson. Based on the 1929 novella by Nella Larsen, Passing follows the story of two light-skinned Black women, Clare Kendry (Negga) and Irene Redfield (Thompson), living during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance era. The two childhood friends have opposing views when it comes to the act of “passing” as white people with Clare decidedly taking advantage of her physical attributes and Irene choosing to live her truth — or so it seems.
The premise of the pic is a touchy subject for Black Americans who have dealt with the remnants of slavery and its resounding impact on skin color. Even in current times, evidence of trauma has evolved from the divisive differentiation of the lighter skinned “house negro” versus the darker skinned “field negro” to the discriminative practices of “Brown Paper Bag Tests,” where Black people would compare skin tones to brown paper bags to determine socioeconomic standing and inclusion in certain societal organizations.
Just a few degrees higher in extremity, “passing” would often reward Black people with privileges normally designated for White people. Those who passed for White would have access to quality education, better health options, and opportunities for wealth accumulation.
Passing is actress Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut. The daughter of a White man and a mixed Black woman of Dutch and African-American origin, Hall, 39, could easily pass without anyone detecting her Black roots. Hall reveals that she was compelled to bring the story to cinema in an interview with Vanity Fair.
“The first draft of it was such an out of body experience, ” Hall said. “I didn’t write a first draft of it thinking, ‘I’m taking on a great work of American literature and I’m going to turn it into a movie.’ I was just thinking, for whatever reason, I just have to do this. I just have to sit down and spend more time with this book—that feeling of when you are intensely compelled to do something. Cut to 15 years later and the film is coming out and now I’m like, ‘You’re out of your mind, Rebecca!’ But it never really left me, that sense of this is just something that I have to do for me personally and for all the things that I want to be as a filmmaker.”
Passing will be available in theaters on Oct. 27, followed by its Netflix premiere on Nov. 10.
Watch the Official Trailer for Passing Below:
