Sometimes you watch a movie and see the absolute worst person you’ve ever met as the lead character. That’s what happened when I watched the Ira Sachs-directed film Passages.
We meet Tomas (Franz Rogowski), a filmmaker who has completed his latest project, and his husband Martin (Ben Whishaw) who despite being exhausted from work all day, still comes out dancing to celebrate the wrapping of Tomas’ film. While out they see the very intriguing—and newly single and available—Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos).
Martin leaves the party and goes home, leaving Tomas and Agathe at the party. Later proudly tells Martin that he slept with Agathe—and thus begins the audacity of Tomas. I truly and honestly said out loud in the theater “This f**king guy” because Tomas is the textbook definition of a narcissist. He wants everyone and anyone without dealing with the consequences of his actions. When Martin is finally done with him, he asks Tomas to leave him alone. Mainly so he can move on and maybe have a relationship with Ahmad (Erwan Falé).
The minute that anyone in Tomas’ life seems to be happy with someone else, here he comes ready to make their lives a living hell again. Why? Because he can! Tomas bops back and forth between Martin and Agathe based on who is willing to give him the attention he so desperately craves … and it makes for the most frustrating of main characters in a good way. Following Tomas as he is the master of his own destruction does make for a fascinating movie, even if at a certain point you cannot stand what he is doing to both Martin and Agathe in the quest for his own happiness and only his.
It’s easy for a main character to be likable, someone we root for. Making a character the absolute worst and still keeping your audience invested in their journey? That’s hard. Martin and Agathe are part of Tomas’ story, not the other way around. They are wronged by him consistently, so you stay invested to see how they fair in the midst of his chaos. I don’t think anyone is leaving this movie feeling bad for Tomas.
The joy of a character like his comes from seeing his downfall. We spent so much time watching him terrorize those he claims to love and to see him fall apart, suffer, and ride off on a bike alone in the end? It was great. We watch him sit with the consequences of his own actions—and that’s why Passages works so well.
(featured image: SBS Productions)
