The Pass
Toledo Productions (2016)
Drama, Queer Themes/Interest
Not In Collection
#755
7*
Seen ItYes
(01/08/2019 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 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
HDR N/A
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.