VERDICT: Pepi Ginsberg’s riveting drama tackles the combustible nature of repressed sexuality when a spot of wild swimming takes an unexpectedly dangerous turn.
Screening as part of the La Cinef competition, a section of the Cannes Film Festival designed to showcase work from film schools, The Pass is a brilliantly assured drama written and directed by Pepi Ginsberg while enrolled on the Graduate Film programme at New York University. Ranging from tentative understatement to stomach-churning tension in its brief runtime, it follows a young man named Ben (Angus O’Brien) who finds himself in a potentially dangerous situation when he goes for a swim in a lake and is effectively cornered in the water by the unnerving Christopher (Paul Bomba).
The film opens with Ben asking for a recommendation for somewhere to go swimming from a stranger, Sam (Jaqwan Kelly). The two men are clearly interested in one another, but after suggesting Ben go for a dip at the eponymous beach, Sam decides not to join him. Instead, Ben finds himself alone in the water being watched by the uncomfortable and increasingly agitated Christopher. On one hand is a healthy, open expression of homosexual desire; on the other is the volatility of someone both wanting to act upon their desires and keen not to admit them.
Not only is the shift in tone – from the delicate mutual attraction of the first scene to the increasing disquiet of unspoken hostility at the lake – perfectly managed, but it beautifully threads its thematic concerns into the fabric of its tone and genre leanings. The early moments might have been the beginning of an indie rom-com, but as the light levels drop and the camera focuses on Ben’s face, concern morphing into terror as he peers back over his shoulder from the water, it feels more like a thriller. In Ginsberg’s hands, the unhurried pacing that is a hallmark of much film school work becomes one of its most arresting assets, ratcheting the suspense. That The Pass is so finely tuned only elevates its multiple, intertwined messages about the perils of marginalising people into feeling they need to hide who they are – as well as signalling Ginsberg as one to keep an eye on.
Director, screenplay, editor: Pepi Ginsberg Cast: Angus O’Brien, Jaqwan Kelly, Joseph Longo, Paul Bomba, Blanche Akonchong Cinematography: Melanie Akoka Set decorator: Charlotte Abbott Sound: Ian Cymore Music: Martin Crane Production company: Ground Work (United Kingdom) Venue: La Cinef, Cannes (Competition) In English 15 minutes
