Malcolm & Marie
netflixComing as one of the last major players in the 2020-2021 awards season, Malcolm & Marie serves as Sam Levinson's most mature feature outing to date. Created within the pandemic era, Malcolm & Marie sees a focused and stripped-down production that takes place in one location with only John David Washington and Zendaya playing on-screen roles. Bringing to life the dysfunctional relationship between Malcolm – an up and coming filmmaker who is quickly gaining a positive reputation with an industry he sees huge flaws in – and Marie – Malcolm's muse who is coming off of a struggle with drug addiction and is trying to balance being there for Malcolm and living her own life – as the couple returns home from a major premiere for Malcolm's new film and find themselves quickly at each other's throats. Malcolm and Marie is both incredibly well crafted but also is quite taxing of a viewing experience.
Starting from the top, the performances from John David Washington and Zendaya are exceptional and genuinely may be the strongest work either actor has put out yet. These performers transform into their characters, finding both their toxic outbursts and complex layers of trauma and fear to near-flawless results. The film both refuses to villainise or glorify either individual in their back and forth. The relationship that they share – specifically with their ability to communicate with each other – is clearly toxic and mentally abusive for both parties. Both individuals know just how to hit the other one where it hurts the most while keeping a facade of innocence. Both are incredibly insecure and whilst they often use this to exploit each other and hurt each other, their ability to understand each other on such a deep level also is the reason they are together at all. They can be brutally honest and open without having to hide anything as they have both seen each other at their lowest. It is frustrating and clearly a negative relationship but also because of this, it is justifiable enough to not feel distracting. Both John David Washington and Zendaya fully understand this twisted relationship and bring it to life. Their chemistry both in tearing each other apart and holding each other up is skillful and beyond impressive with each individual actor also having plenty of time to show their talents on their own with large monologues filled with huge emotional breakthroughs.
The screenplay, however, is clearly the weakest cog on the wheel when it comes to exploring this relationship. Though the film does a fantastic job at making the audience understand these characters, it fails ultimately to make the audience care about them. With no set up to invest the audience into their struggles and history, the audience is placed into more of an observation role not fully being able to actively engage in their back and forth as their dynamics and relationship are already so well established and all the drama within the film comes from events the audience simply didn't see. Whilst far from terrible, it is clear that this conversation within the film is largely the more uninteresting of the two main thesis the film is attempting to build and whenever the focus would drift onto their relationships – often with incredibly similar scenes that happen again and again – it would just make the audience hope it goes to its other conversation again before too long.
This other conversation, though more engaging, is also not quite perfect. Malcolm & Marie is largely an angry expression towards the state of film criticism. From the contradictions within the light that individuals view various films and filmmakers in based on their personal lives to the lack of diversity within the voices tasked with covering one of the most diverse periods in filmmaking ever; it is clear that Sam Levinson is angry at the world of film criticism and Malcolm & Marie is tasked with presenting this. Specifically, through a number of monologues from John David Washington, this point is captured rather effectively with numerous nuances and legitimate anger-inducing views shining through as authentic and important – but even here the screenplay can struggle. One of the most confusing pieces of the Malcolm & Marie is its backbone in the idea of authenticity in who is telling what story. From Marie not getting any credit for Malcolm's newest film when largely it is based on her personal life to even lines questioning Barry Jenkins role directing Moonlight as a straight director, the film clearly is interested in the idea of filmmakers stealing the voices of others but, at the end of the day, Malcolm & Marie is guilty of the same thing. Sam Levinson is credited as the sole screenwriter for the project and as a white filmmaker, decides to capture the modern experience of a black director. No matter what someone thinks regarding the quality of the work Levinson produces, the hypocritical morals of the film are undeniable and even distracting at multiple points.
Stepping away from the screenplay and morals of the film, the technical elements from the feature are undeniable. It is extremely refreshing to see a film made in the era of COVID-19 have such stunning cinematography which is credited to Marcell Rév. Even with incredibly limited space, the film consistently is seeking out dynamic ways to shoot its subjects that also reflect mood and emotion and the film is a complete success in these efforts. The music from Labrinth featured throughout the project is also immediately a standout when watching the film striking with a sense of beauty and again mood that really breaths life into this black and white world.
Whilst Malcolm & Marie is far from a disaster, it also simply isn't a masterpiece. The film features two of the strongest performances of the year and some really incredible technical elements, but the screenplay just isn't quite there. There are solid ideas throughout and the actual flow of dialogue is really well crafted, the execution of its conversation just feels a bit off. The film needed to be cleaned up and the ideas needed to be a bit deeper developed to truly find the emotional power the film wants to have but, still, for a film produced and made within a global pandemic the effort is completely respectable for what it is.
