NIGHTSTREAM 2020: Black Bear
nightstream 2020In the conversation of the wildest narrativity challenging features of the year, Lawrence Michael Levine's Black Bear –which is streaming as part of the 2020 Nightstream Film Festival – stands tall as one of the best. In a purposefully vague description of the film, Black Bear follows Allison (Aubrey Plaza), a struggling filmmaker who goes on a trip to the forest where she is forced to confront her place in the world and her struggles in the career she finds a powerful sense of expression from. With some shocking plot twists and incredibly heavy emotional weight, Black Bear is a truly stunning feature that deserves to be seen as blind as possible.
Easily being her best performance since Ingrid Goes West, Black Bear stands out as yet another incredible example of the power that Aubrey Plaza holds as an actor. Her performance as Allison, like much of the film, is complex and layered. There are deep emotional complexations to Allison that create an inner turmoil that rises to the surface of Allison's actions and dialogue in a natural and captivating sense. It is ultimately in these emotions that the film finds its groove and goes beyond that of just being a tense psychological thriller. Whilst the specifics of Allison's emotions might not be universal, the larger themes of accepting not being to the level in a career that you want to be and accepting those around you making progress while you stay stagnant is all too familiar.
The various twists and turns of the screenplay, also by Lawrence Michael Levine, works to enhance these ideas to a great degree. Without giving anything away, Black Bear is a film that recontextualises itself multiple times and keeps the audience guessing where the lines of reality and fiction truly lays. Unlike plenty of films to take on a similar approach in hopes to stand out as unique, Black Bear plays with its narrative in a matter that benefits the substance of the film and never comes across as pretentious. In this sense, the film earns every bold choice and unconventional decision within its runtime, never feeling like a cheap attempt for depth or purpose. Black Bear not only has something of value to say, but is inspired in its efforts to tell that story.
The supporting cast in the film can also not be given enough praise. Similar to the character of Allison, those in supporting roles are given complex and overdetermined characters which are inherently difficult to craft performances for. Not only do they have to fit into the various plot twists and reveals of the story but, similar to the audience, they have to play in reaction to the performance that Aubrey Plaza is giving, which on its own adds yet another layer of complexity to their performances. Whilst Plaza clearly is going to get the majority of the attention surrounding the acting of the film, those like Sarah Gadon, Alexander Koch and Christopher Abbott also deserve praise and mention.
2020 has been a strong year for psychological thrillers already but, even so, Black Bear stands as one of the best. This is a legitimately smart and captivating film that evokes genuine emotion from the audience, causing them to sit on the edge of their seats with each development and reveal. The script is poetry, the acting is art, and the film overall is one of the best of the year.
