Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) passes for white as a matter of convenience. Clare Bellew (Ruth Negga) passes for white in order to live as a white woman married to a vile racist (Alexander Skarsgård). In the current era of Black Lives Matter, I had to stop and wonder if the mixed messaging here would be fuel for even further division. I'm sure that wasn't the intent of director Rebecca Hall, but if it crossed my mind, it will probably do the same for others.
I thought the story was an intriguing one from Clare's perspective. As her friendship with 'Rene' was being renewed, she began to look more favorably on the life she left behind, and gradually insinuated herself into the various activities that Harlem of the 1920's offered. There was a hint of Clare coming on to Rene's husband (André Holland), which he reciprocated by his attention to her. Meanwhile Rene struggled with Brian's (Holland) approach to raising their boys to be cognizant and wary of a larger racist world. This appeared to be building to an unsettling climax, but the one the story decided on seemed awkward and ambiguous.
Another reviewer on this board posits that Irene pushed Clare in a fit of jealousy, though I'm not buying it. Clare's enraged husband arrived at the party breathing fire, virtually uncomprehending of his surroundings. An off screen voice determines that Clare's 'accident' would be ruled death by misadventure, which assuredly would not have been the case if it was perpetrated by anyone in the room other than John Bellew, as it was white policemen who arrived on the scene. The abrupt conclusion, tragic as it was, seemed to make everything that went before somewhat inconsequential.
I thought the story was an intriguing one from Clare's perspective. As her friendship with 'Rene' was being renewed, she began to look more favorably on the life she left behind, and gradually insinuated herself into the various activities that Harlem of the 1920's offered. There was a hint of Clare coming on to Rene's husband (André Holland), which he reciprocated by his attention to her. Meanwhile Rene struggled with Brian's (Holland) approach to raising their boys to be cognizant and wary of a larger racist world. This appeared to be building to an unsettling climax, but the one the story decided on seemed awkward and ambiguous.
Another reviewer on this board posits that Irene pushed Clare in a fit of jealousy, though I'm not buying it. Clare's enraged husband arrived at the party breathing fire, virtually uncomprehending of his surroundings. An off screen voice determines that Clare's 'accident' would be ruled death by misadventure, which assuredly would not have been the case if it was perpetrated by anyone in the room other than John Bellew, as it was white policemen who arrived on the scene. The abrupt conclusion, tragic as it was, seemed to make everything that went before somewhat inconsequential.