The Pass
Toledo Productions (2016)
Drama, Queer Themes/Interest
Not In Collection
#755
7*
Seen ItYes
(1/8/2019 Netflix)
IMDB   6.5
88 mins UK / English
Netflix  Region 1
Russell Tovey Jason
Arinze Kene Ade
Lisa McGrillis Lyndsey
Nico Mirallegro Harry
Rory J. Saper Bellboy
Director
Ben A. Williams
Producer Duncan Kenworthy
Kurban Kassam
Writer/Composer John Donnelly
Cinematography Chris O'Driscoll


Nineteen-year-old Jason and Ade have been in the Academy of a famous London football club since they were eight years old. It's the night before their first-ever game for the first team - a Champions League match - and they're in a hotel room in Romania. They should be sleeping, but they're over-excited. They skip, fight, mock each other, prepare their kit, watch a teammate's sex tape. And then, out of nowhere, one of them kisses the other. The impact of this 'pass' reverberates through the next ten years of their lives - a decade of fame and failure, secrets and lies, in a sporting world where image is everything.
Edition Details
No. of Discs/Tapes 1
References
Streaming, VoD NetFlix, Vimeo
Lists ‡ Big Gay Picture Show’s Top 10 LGBT- Themed Films Of 2016
IMDb Voters <500
Interest Tags Ravens
QueerGuru Rating 9

Notes
The Pass has it origin in a stage production by playwrite John Donnelly. While director Ben Williams makes little effort to conceal this origin, I personally did not find it a distraction. At least one prominent queer film critic slams the entire film because the principal character, played by Russell Tovey, is not a hero of modern gay political correctness. The performances are superb. Should not The film be embraced for what it is, rather than shunned for what it is not.