Malcolm & Marie (Film)
7 /10 1 Votes
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Director Sam Levinson Writer Sam Levinson Composer Labrinth Runtime 106 minutes Release Date February 5, 2021 (United States) Country United States Language English Aspect Ratio 1.85 : 1 Genre Drama, Romance Cinematography Marcell Rév Budget $2.5 million Distributed by Netflix Edited by Julio C. Perez IV Production Co Little Lamb, Fotokem Cast Zendaya, John David Washington Produced by Kevin Turen, Ashley Levinson, Sam Levinson, Zendaya John, David Washington Filming Locations Feldman Architecture's Caterpillar House - Carmel, California, USA Similar The Bad and the Beautiful, John David Washington, Zendaya | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malcolm & Marie is an American black-and-white romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Sam Levinson in the year 2021.
Contents
Plot
Malcolm & Marie | Official Trailer | Netflix
The film starts when Writer-director Malcolm Elliott (played by John David Washington) returns after his film premiere along with his girlfriend Marie Jones (played by Zendaya). Once back home Malcolm is eagerly looking forward to the critical reviews he should receive following the highly emotional response of the audience from the screening. It is then he notices Marie looking annoyed about something and he insists her to tell him whatever is bothering her mind. Marie, was Initially reluctant to open up with Malcom as she does not want to start a fight with him in the middle of the night. However, after Malcom insisted continually Marie tells him that she felt really upset that she wasn't acknowledged or thanked in his speech at the film premiere.
Moreover, Marie believed that she is the main inspiration of his film which being a drama about a black female struggling drug addict named Imani. She told him that she found very close resemblance with her life and life of Imani as she herself was a drug addict when she met Malcom for the first time. However, Malcolm takes her accusations surprisingly and dismisses them, saying that Imani is not based on Marie, but rather she is inspired from different people.
However, Marie was not ready to accept this. She insisted that she was pretty sure that Malcom would have never portrayed Imani's struggles with drug addiction if he has not met Marie and they were not together. Hearing this, Malcolm accused Marie of overreacting and he claimed that Marie is simply being jealous of the actress who played Imani as she herself has quitted acting years ago. He further accused that she is projecting her personal problems on him and his film.
This made Marie very angry and she reaffirms his reluctance to acknowledge her in the film and calls his film making talents "mediocre". Malcom tries to defend his stand by describing various other women he had relationship with and who inspired the character of Imani. However, he admits Imani's feelings of utter hopelessness were based on Marie.
Later, Marie provokes Malcom when she asks him why he didn't cast her as Imani. She told him she would have did more justice to the role and would have brought an authenticity and vulnerability to the character that could have given the entire film a superior touch. To prove her point, she even brings out a knife and acts as if she is still a drug addict. Even though this act scared Malcom a bit, he was very impressed about how convincingly she acted. The argument between the two went late in to the night until they finally went to bed together. Until then Marie was repeatedly accusing Malcom for taking her for granted and how he conveniently forgot how their true love for each other inspired the film.
The next morning Malcolm wakes up alone in to find Marie alone outside. The fate of their relationship is still unknown as Malcom joins her as they look across the distance.
Review
The film received diverse reviews from critics, who praised Washington's and Zendaya’s performances in lead roles, and Levinson's direction. However, they criticized the screenplay of the film. On a larger scale, this movie traps the audience inside the dysfunctional relationship of two greatly privileged, strongly self-involved people. Both of them Malcom and Mary are backed up by Sam Levinson's neat directing, and his choice of shooting in black-and-white. This mode was deliberately choosen by the director to give the film a superficial grace to match its characters' insecurity.