‘Passing’ Review: Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga Are Luminous

Identity is a slippery thing; it’s both self-constructed and imposed upon us by the world in which we live. Passing, writer/director Rebecca Hall’s adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel explores these themes via its central characters, a pair of mixed-race friends who reconnect in 1920s Harlem. The divine Tessa Thompson plays Irene—Reenie to just about everyone—a married, well-to-do mother of two who is active in the borough’s vibrant civic and cultural life. She is, as she tells her husband Brian (André Holland)—and perhaps herself—satisfied with the life she’s made. She has everything she ever wanted. But a chance encounter at… Read Full Article