Passages: ultimately, the story told by Ira Sachs in this small drama is slight, and the film fails to deepen the character study enough; in any case, the film is short enough that its failures don’t bother too much. It helps matters that the protagonist is played with magnetic energy by Franz Rogowski; an unlikeable control freak film director who needs constantly to be in charge of a relationship, and keeps ping-ponging from his gentle, long-suffering husband (played by an effective Ben Whishaw) and the young woman he met at a wrap party (Adèle Exarchopoulos, a temple of carnal femininity). The film moves along snappily, with editor Sophie Reine moving from one episode to the next without delay. Cinematographer Josée Deshaies gives the film a simple and functional look. Costume designer Khadija Zeggaï uses the way the characters dress as a clear form of expression.