150 Word Review: 'Passages' (2023)
Triangle of sadness
Love is in the details, but so is heartbreak: a seductive glance, a desperate whisper, a quiet lie. Director Ira Sachs records these small moments in Passages, his stylish drama about a modern ménage à trois. Tomas is married to Martin, but during the wrap party for his movie, Tomas sleeps with Agathe. Tomas is excited by his affair but still wants what he has with Martin, and as the Rolling Stones famously sang, "You can't always get what you want."
Ben Winshaw's Martin is haunted, his failing relationship sexually combustible and self-destructive. As Agathe, Adèle Exarchopoulos finds quiet strength in betrayal. And then there's Tomas, an agent of chaos. He's a street cat, a wounded child, a world-class narcissist. Franz Rogowski plays Tomas, and he's enthralling—an infuriating and relatable character. Everyone's messy at least once. The movie takes place in Paris, a beautiful, indifferent city made for unhappy throuples.
It sounds like a 21st century take on Truffaut's "Jules and Jim".
Two times in my life married couples asked me to join them in a throuple.
I said, “You are my friends but I’m just not into that.”
Haven’t seen that movie and probably won’t because it sounds like a tragedy.
Am I a Catholic prude like my bisexual throuple loving friend thinks I am?
Great review, however.