BLOWING THE WHISTLE
BY EXPLORING THE UGLIER SIDE OF ‘THE BEAUTIFUL GAME’, THE PASS ASKS WHY FOOTBALL REMAINS ONE OF OUR MOST IN-THE-CLOSET SPORTS
WORDS: JOEY PASSMORE
FYI
The Pass was selected as the opening film of the 30th edition of BFI Flare: London LGBT Film Festival
FILM
OF THE MONTH
THE PASS
Russell Tovey, Arinzé Kene, Lisa McGrillis
→ In this new release, director Ben A. Williams tackles the prickly, below-the-radar subject of homosexuality in one of our most popular sports: football. As the two leads (Tovey and Kene) spend the first third of the film dealing with their repressed flirtations by wrestling their way around their hotel room in nothing but revealing tighty-whities, you’d expect the film to segue into a softcore B-movie at any moment. But once the drama gets into its stride, the poignancy of life as an LGBT athlete soon sets in. Although the finale feels a little implausible, the corruption and struggle is highlighted through two commendable performances, particularly from Tovey, who plays a conflicted but egotistical bully as part of a culture that feels uncomfortably close to reality. 9 December