Rebecca Hall's 'Passing' is stunning; so are Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga's performances

“Passing” is Rebecca Hall’s first feature film as a writer and director.

You’d never know it.

With her meticulous eye for detail, her beautiful framing of shots (in stunning black-and-white) and the wondrously moving performances she gets from her actors —to say nothing of her handling of the material (she wrote the script) — you’d think Hall had been at this for a while.

Of course, she’s a wonderful actor herself; she singlehandedly makes “The Night House” the best horror movie of the year, and that’s just her recent work. But it turns out she’s just as good, if not better, behind the camera.

“Passing” is based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, about two light-skinned Black women, one of whom is passing as white. That’s Clare (a magnetic Ruth Negga), whose husband John (Alexander Skarsgård) wears his repugnant racism on his sleeve. He doesn’t mind Black people, he says — he hates them.

He says this to Irene (Tessa Thompson), an old friend of Clare’s, and the character from whose point of view the story is told. They bump into each other unexpectedly, Irene not even recognizing Clare. Irene is married to Brian (André Holland), a Black man and a doctor; they live in Harlem with their two sons.

Thompson and Negga give magnetic performances

But the day they run into each other, Irene, too, is passing (they’re in a different part of New York on a sweltering day). The chance meeting turns into something more. Clare writes Irene, who won’t respond. Finally, she just shows up at her door, trying to rekindle their friendship.

The thrill of living as a Black woman in Harlem excites Clare. She says several times how she envies Irene’s freedom to live as herself.

But that’s fraught, as well. Irene has constructed a sheltered life for her sons and in some ways herself; she and Brian argue about his insistence on telling the children how Black people are really treated in the U.S. He wants to leave the country, pick up and start a life somewhere else. Irene is more hesitant.

She’s also intrigued and frightened by Clare. People are drawn to her. Even after Irene doesn’t invite her to a tea, she acknowledges that Clare does always make a party better. There’s maybe some jealousy — Irene is certainly uncomfortable with the growing closeness between Brian and Clare.

But she’s also afraid of Clare’s secret, of John finding out, of what it will mean to both Clare’s life and her own if he does. It’s a slow spiral of fear and resentment.

Hall frames every shot with precision. It's an audacious debut

Hall and the actors navigate this with such precision that every frame, every shot, every action seems perfectly of a piece. Hall builds something big out of small moments. Clare mentions in a throwaway line that she doesn’t want to have more children because she agonized for nine months that when her daughter was born she would have dark skin. (She didn’t.)

It lasts about 10 seconds. It’s devastating.

Later at a party where Irene introduces Clare to her friend Hugh (Bill Camp), a novelist of high regard, including his own. The film is set during Prohibition so the liquor is homemade, but Clare has a flask. When she pulls it out Hugh slides a disc toward her. She takes it, unfolds a collapsing cup and pours him a shot, establishing a lifestyle in one deft movement and one quick shot.

The beauty of the scenes toward the end of the film as it builds toward an inevitable settling of things, set during snowfall, is so powerful as to almost feel tactile. Hall’s family has its own history of passing, which may be why the film seems so personal and profound.

It’s an audacious debut. Can’t wait for the next one.

'Passing' 4.5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Rebecca Hall.

Cast: Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, André Holland.

Rating: PG-13 for thematic material, some racial slurs and smoking.

Note: Streaming on Netflix on Nov. 10.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga are stunning in Rebecca Hall's 'Passing'