Reprising his original role from the stage version of The Pass, Tovey is superb as the hyperactive and needy lead, whose ego and insecurities are his undoing.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 18, 2023

In a film brimming with ideas, its execution falls somewhat flat. Despite good casting, the acting never lives up to the script, which itself is flawed by self-imposed structural limitations.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 2, 2021

In spite of its flaws, 
this is a poignant and provocative film that often feels uncomfortably realistic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 9, 2021

Despite the recognisable structure of its source material, The Pass is a lucid and harrowing portrayal of homophobia in football that couldn't ring any more true.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 15, 2019

Tovey holds the film together with a superbly transparent, brittle performance.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 1, 2018

The film makes little effort to conceal its theatrical origins -- the heightened-reality style works well on stage but struggles to convince here.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 17, 2017

Tovey is so scorchingly brilliant that watching the film made me wish I'd seen it in the theatre instead.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 15, 2016

Sharply written, impressively acted and elegantly structured ...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 11, 2016

An independent British production that manages the transfer from stage to screen more than gamely.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 9, 2016

Williams's wrenching yarn dissects various betrayals and offers a useful reminder: when it's all about the brand, we're all fair game.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 9, 2016

Thoughtfully written and terrifically acted, The Pass is an insightful and brutally honest look at the price of "making it".

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2016

A screen adaptation of John Donnelly's acclaimed play.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 8, 2016

The film is a bit stagey sometimes, but ambitious and insightful. Tovey is excellent as he shows someone progressing from innocence to fear and then to loneliness.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2016

Russell Tovey gives a layered, career-best performance in an intense interior drama that never quite shakes its theatrical origins.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 8, 2016

Intense and delicately nuanced.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 8, 2016

Well played, gents.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2016

The key virtues of John Donnelly's play have survived the process of adaptation intact, namely Donnelly's sharp writing and a tremendous lead performance by Russell Tovey.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 6, 2016

Williams crafts a tragicomic atmosphere and plays deftly with expectations.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 5, 2016

Though undoubtedly a flawed endeavour, it's imperative we add to the discussion of homosexuality in football, as a theme barely discussed in real life, never mind up on the big screen, as we scrutinise over the ugliest side of the beautiful game.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 12, 2016