Apr 24, 2018
Today’s movie is “Pass Over” (2018), the Amazon Studios drama written for the stage by Antoinette Nwandu, directed for the stage by Danya Taymor, and directed for the screen by Spike Lee. The film follows Moses (Jon Michael Hill) and Kitch (Julian Parker), two homeless black men as they talk with each other, pass the time and dream of their own promised lands. The film debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was screened at Southwest Film Festival.
Spoilers ahead.
It’s difficult, sometimes, to make the transition between the stage and the screen, as both formats utilize a different storytelling format and a different relationship with their respective audiences. Films based off stage shows sometimes lose the flair only the stage can bring, and stage shows based off films lose the focused, more directed storytelling. And now we’ve seen a few “stage shows as films” showing up in theatres as special events, and more recently, efforts like “Fences” (2016).
“Pass Over” was a stage show that played for about a week at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. The minimalist stage is set on a Chicago street corner, which helps characterize the minimal options available to the two men. This movie version was filmed secretly during the show, capturing audience faces before and afterward, especially at key moments in the play. In many ways, Taymor and Lee are able to get the best of both worlds when it all comes together.
Jon Michael Hill and Julian Parker are incredible, with wonderful chemistry, both between themselves, and with the supporting cast of Ryan Hallahan as the prototypical white savior named Master and Blake DeLong as the prototypical Chicago Police officer. The script is perfect, addressing white privilege, gun violence, extrajudicial killings, and even the use (and abuse) of the “n-word”. It also addresses the “problem of heaven”, when people whose contemporary conditions are so bad, that only the promise of “passing over” in death is the best option.
“Pass Over” (2018) is a work of genius, both as a stage show, and as a film experience, capturing the best of both media types about the important problems faced today in the black, urban experience. Nwandu, Taymor, and Lee develop and evolve a great, if heartbreaking story, grounded in a realism that is all too familiar today. Fans of stage shows and dramas will enjoy this film, but be ready for the foul language and difficult themes.
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Metacritic: 73
One Movie Punch: 9.6/10
“Pass Over” (2018) is not rated and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.