Stylistically, this is a beautiful film. The black and white, the exterior shots looking into the interior and vice versa, combined with intimate shots of John David Washington (Blackkklansman, Tenet) and Zendaya (The Greatest Showman, Spider-Man)’s faces tells the story of a couple’s relationship over the course one night. There is a present-ness to it, like you are in the house with them.
Sam Levinson has already demonstrated how good he is at just making two characters talk to one another in December’s special episode of his TV show Euphoria. However, some of the dialogue, although it makes good points, seems too speech-like for a conversation between partners, and also gets a bit repetitive. It flip-flops between Washington’s character talking about his film and film criticism, and Zendaya’s Marie bringing up the fact that she wasn’t thanked by him at the premiere.
The characters’ backgrounds are fed slowly and precisely throughout the film and with more flesh to the characters comes more chemistry between Zendaya and Washington. They seem an odd pair at first (whether it’s the age difference, one cannot be convinced) but it gets better the longer the film goes on. As to the topics discussed, their love, his film, film criticism, race, makes even attempting to review this film a minefield. Critics are called out in the argument of academia versus the pure experience of cinema.
‘Malcom and Marie’ is available to stream on Netflix.
Pep Reviews 