Sexuality is a difficult thing to pin down because of its individual nature. For many, it is rigid and strict, only preferring a specific gender or type of person. For others, sexuality is fluid, their preferences and desires changing from person to person. As such, putting a strict definition to the concept of sexuality is near impossible, no matter how popular media attempts to put each sexuality into neat boxes.
If there is one thing that Ira Sachs seemingly wants to prove with his latest film, Passages, it’s that the concept of sexuality is messy and complicated at its core. The symbol for such a concept is film director Tomas (Franz Rogowski), whose relationship with his long-time husband Martin (Ben Whishaw) is on the rocks. After filming his latest project, he meets school teacher Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos) at a bar and has a one-night stand with her. Confused and frustrated, Tomas tries to find himself, but in ways that threaten to destroy his relationships with Martin and Agathe.
Sachs and co-writer Mauricio Zacharias are uninterested in exploring the fine details of these conflicts. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing – by cherry-picking the moments in each couple’s development, the film is consistently engaging and well-paced. There are so many things left unsaid between its core ensemble, so many crucial moments left to the audience’s imagination, and yet, Passages would not work if every part of Tomas’s journey was documented. It instills great trust in its audience, and in a cinematic landscape that wants to challenge as few people as possible, that is arguably its greatest strength.
It also doesn’t hurt that the trio at the core of the film is genuinely compelling to watch. Rogowski delivers arguably his most complex performance yet, able to make viewers both enraged and sympathetic with each mistake Tomas makes. One particular shot, which focuses entirely on Rogowski’s distant expression, evokes that of Paul Mescal’s work in last festival season’s Aftersun — his performance is seemingly blank and stoic on the surface, but the further the camera focuses on him, the more emotion crosses his face in a remarkably short amount of time. Exarchopoulos also gives a powerful performance as its moral but fleshed-out core, especially in the film’s third act.
Of course, there is a small elephant in the room when it comes to talking about Passages, and that is the fact that the MPAA gave it a rare NC-17 rating for its impending theatrical release. This is a testament to how archaic the MPAA’s rating system currently is, since the sex scenes in the film are choreographed as realistically and non-intrusively as possible. They are legitimately sexy, but in a natural way that replicates any spur-of-the-moment sexual encounter. The film’s NC-17 rating, which was rejected by distributor MUBI and will be released Unrated, seems to suggest it is pornographic or gratuitous, things that cannot be further from the truth. If anything, Passages’ most valuable asset is the fact that it demystifies sex in a way that is incredibly needed in a time that is arguably leaning into purity culture.
What makes Sachs such a remarkable filmmaker is that he is able to convey broad topics in very accessible ways. This is certainly the case with Passages, which provides a unique perspective into modern sexuality. Bolstered by its strong threesome and refreshing depiction of sex, the film is a frank reminder that there is no way to navigate love without avoiding conflict. No matter what sanitized love stories want you to think, there will always be issues to overcome. There will always be people like Tomas in the world, who want to go through life and love without tension, but they will always realize that it’s simply not possible. If you really want to love and to be loved, the messiness that comes with it needs to be embraced.
