MALCOLM AND MARIE | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Sam Levinson (15, 106 mins)
A freewheeling two-hander shot in lockdown, this showcases the acting chops of its two stars Zendaya and John David Washington in an always interesting, often self-indulgent snapshot of a relationship. Washington is Malcolm, a hot young director who has just had the premiere of his new film; Zendaya is his girlfriend Marie, who turns out to have had far more to do with the construction and making of the film than first appears.
What kicks off an argument full of peaks and troughs is Malcolm neglecting to thank Marie in a speech he made in front of an audience of peers, collaborators and reviewers. They’ve had an evening amidst the movers, shakers and glitterati, but are now back in their rented house supplied by the studio, and can let loose. We follow them through this house in long takes as they gain upper hands on each other: from making mac and cheese to discussing the merits of creativity, what a black filmmaker is, what political filmmaking is, gender issues, whether an assault scene in the film needed to feature a topless actress and also what Malcolm and Marie’s relationship means.
Marie’s life appears to have been creatively appropriated by Malcolm: she is a recovering addict whose life experiences fed into his film. Now an actor herself, she wants to know why she wasn’t cast in the main role and where she sits in their relationship. Tirades follow – at times rather too literate, drawing attention to the verbiage and the staginess of the whole setup, but Washington and Zendaya make Sam Levinson’s words mostly resonate under his direction.
Levinson’s excellent series Euphoria allowed Zendaya to shine, and she brings the multi-layered contradictions in Marie to vibrant life here alongside Washington’s equally complex performance. Shot in black and white, this looks fantastic – occasionally ringing indulgent and false, but Washington and Zendaya paper over any cracks in a flawed, diverting experiment.
On Netflix from Fri 5 Feb
words KEIRON SELF