Passing

Plots: “Passing” follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities. Mixed-race childhood friends reunite in middle class adulthood and become increasingly involved in each other’s lives and insecurities. While Irene identifies as African-American and is married to a Black doctor, Clare “passes” as white and has married a prejudiced, wealthy white man. Irene Redfield, a refined, upper-class 1920s woman, finds breezy refuge from a hot summer day in the grand tearoom of New York City’s Drayton Hotel. Across the room, she spots a blond woman staring her down, Clare. Clare invites Irene back to the hotel where she is staying with her husband, John, on his business trip. Clare explains that after her father died, she was raised by two white aunts and married him very young. They are interrupted by John, who openly despises and degrades African-Americans, unaware of his wife’s racial background or that Irene is “passing” for the day.