Film Review: Passing delivers an affecting experience where the personal is the political

"...although filmed in black-and-white, nothing here is as straightforward as it seems..."

Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson appear in "Passing" by Rebecca Hall.

****  

Set in New York in the 1920s, Passing (12A) stars Tessa Thompson as Irene, a Harlem-based campaigner for the Negro League who is shocked when he encounters her childhood friend Clare (Ruth Negga) and realises that Clare is not only ‘passing’ for white, but has married the racist white businessman John (Alexander Skarsgård).