Nominated for Nothing: The bold period drama Passing was too ahead of its time

They're destined to score zero Academy Awards, but they won our attention throughout a year (and awards season) like no other. Ahead of the 94th Oscars ceremony on March 27, EW is breaking down the year's best movies, performances, and directorial achievements that were nominated for nothing.

The film: Although shot in monochrome, Passing presents a colorful spectrum of views on race in America. Set during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, this adaptation of Nella Larsen's 1929 novel explores the relationship between two light-skinned Black women, childhood friends who reunite as adults and learn they have moved through the world in two dramatically different ways.

Making her directorial debut, Rebecca Hall deftly introduces us to the story through the eyes of Irene (Tessa Thompson), a courtly housewife striving to be perceived as Black excellence. But she is knocked off her axis by seeing how Clare (Ruth Negga) has not only been living as a white woman, but is married to a racist.

The Netflix film, which premiered at Sundance's virtual 2021 edition, successfully conveys how the concept of "passing" can be seen as both dangerous and alluring, as Irene tries to figure out what to make of Clare and her unconventional self-presentation crashing into the progressive, aristocratic lifestyle she's built for herself.

Why it wasn't nominated: Sundance's CODA seems to be doing just fine, but for the most part, it is historically difficult (and costly) for an indie that premiered at the January film festival to maintain enough momentum to secure a Best Picture nomination over a year later — especially one that didn't receive any accolades. Although Passing was still acquired by Netflix in one of the biggest deals the festival has seen (north of $15 million), landing the streaming service as a distributor has been both a gift and a curse.

Often it seems the Academy takes a "there can only be one" mentality with nominees from disenfranchised backgrounds. Netflix entered awards season with three complex dramas about identity and perception, all from female filmmakers. As the dust settled, Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog and Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter eclipsed Passing. Factoring race into the mix, it's not a total shock that Tessa Thompson didn't score a Best Actress nod when there has been only a single Black winner in the nearly 100 years since the category has existed (and only 14 nominations).

Passing's best chance at a nomination was in Best Supporting Actress: Ruth Negga's transfixing performance as Clare was the film's standout, and she made the bracket for the SAG Awards. But the situation surrounding her Oscar snub was reminiscent of the first time Negga was nominated for an Academy Award in 2016 for Loving. Then, she was a surprise nominee; this year, that upsetter was Jessie Buckley, receiving her first-ever nomination for her work on The Lost Daughter. It's not a stretch to speculate that Buckley and Negga were neck and neck for that fifth spot.

Why history will remember it better than the Academy did: Passing will eventually be seen as the first in an upcoming trend of film and TV projects about Black women passing for white: While Zendaya and Reese Witherspoon develop the film A White Lie, in which the former will play a teen who says she is white in order to attend exclusive Vassar College in the late 1800s, HBO has already broken ground on a limited-series adaptation of the New York Times bestseller The Vanishing Half, to be helmed by Slave Play playwright Jeremy O. Harris. It's another story in which two Black women — this time twins — present themselves to the world as white.

Clearly Hollywood feels the subject matter is ripe for exploration, and it seems fitting that a movie version of Passing is as much of a pioneer as the 1929 book was. While her film received no Oscar nominations, Rebecca Hall can hold her head high having this debut as a calling card to show what a forward-thinking filmmaker she can be. And Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga have the film to display how their range is even more immense than we may have realized.

EW's countdown to the 2022 Oscars has everything you're looking for, from our expert predictions and in-depth Awardist interviews with this year's nominees to nostalgia and our takes on the movies and actors we wish had gotten more Oscars love. You can check it all out at The Awardist.

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