On Malcolm and Marie

Malcolm and Marie was released on Netflix on Friday. It tells the story of filmmaker, Malcolm and his actress girlfriend, Marie, who have just returned from Malcolm’s movie premiere, and the tensions & painful revelations that follow.

The film stars Zendaya and John David Washington. It was written and directed by Sam Levinson. It was shot in one location, with only two actors due to COVID-19 restrictions.

So they’ve just returned home from the movie premiere and Marie is upset about the fact that Malcolm did not acknowledge her in his speech, especially because his movie was inspired by her story (or so she thought) on how she recovered from drug addiction. Malcolm has already apologized but Marie is not satisfied so she goes on a rant, and then Malcolm goes on a rant, and then the whole movie becomes a rant about how they’re both selfish and insensitive to each other’s feelings.

Marie hasn’t fully healed from her past and Malcom is convinced he’s her savior because he helped her get into rehab, and believes she should be forever grateful, even if he forgets to thank her in his speech!

The whole time I was thinking, when is this going to end? Will they sleep? Have make up sex? End the relationship?

The actors were fantastic. The chemistry was beautiful. The dialogue and delivery was smooth BUT the film was exhausting! It was exhausting because I felt like I was watching two people argue, going round in circles for almost two hours. And the fact that it was in black and white made it even duller. Could the film have been shorter? Brighter? I guess that was the whole point — to make us sad!

It was great to see a different side to “love” or whatever it was that they shared. I liked that they were brutally honest with each other about their doubts, fears, insecurities, et al. They call each other out on everything possible, sleep and then end up on the porch in the morning and continue their relationship. All is well with the world!

If you have been in a toxic relationship before, this film might trigger you as there’s a lot of swearing and gaslighting.

I’ll rate it 5/10. Watch it and make your own conclusions.