Review of Malcolm & Marie, the new drama by Sam Levinson, the creator of Euphoria, starring Zendaya and John David Washington. Premiere on Netflix on February 5.
On February 5, the new work of Sam Levinson, the creator of Euphoria and brand new screenwriter of the two special episodes that will lead us to a second season that HBO hopes to premiere this year, arrives on Netflix. They are “Trouble Don’t Last Always” and “Fuck Everyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob”. And, as in the case of the first of them, Malcolm & Marie runs in just one location and develops the relationship of two characters through a long conversation in which they destroy and rebuild in various attacks.
The other common link is that one of them is played by Zendaya, who continues to make a lot of noise with each new role she plays (because the truth is that she works very well and looks for complicated roles), and that again gets under her skin. of a former drug addict with a tendency to self-destruction, in line with Rue.The use of black and white is already a declaration of intentions: Malcolm & Marie is a very dialectical and verbose drama in which the conflicting positions of Malcolm (John David Washington) and Marie (Zendaya) find their way into a long night of encounters and disagreements.
Desperate declarations of love, passionate kisses, insults and reproaches make up a nightmarish hangover after an event in which he, the director of a risky film, and his muse, attend a special press screening.Malcolm returns full and ego through the roof after receiving a barrage of compliments and positive reviews, while Marie is disappointed and dejected for reasons that will be revealed throughout the evening, once they arrive home and the masks are removed until they display a painful frankness.
Malcolm & Marie is by no means an easy movie and it is not a pleasant viewing either. It is true that Levinson knows how to take it well to the level of realization so that the viewer moves through the space they share and gets into the skin of the two characters with each information that they add through their sharp dialogues, but it is also true that it is exasperating. And it is that, as spectators, we get into the intimacy of two people just at the moment in which they open the “drawer of my ** da”.
If you’ve had a similar experience at some point in your life (one of those explosive discussions after a social event), it can be especially unpleasant. It is not that we are facing a couple with a sufficient level of intimacy to broach certain things in a process of personal and sentimental growth, but that their relationship lacks the necessary respect for things to flow normally even though they are not agree. In addition, the script lacks punch, as if crying out for a final twist that never comes and that completely dissolves what was previously seen. It is easy to forget, it leaves no residue.
EGOS IN DISCORD
At an interpretive level, the greatest dramatic weight falls on Zendaya, the role of John David Washington (more comfortable in action roles such as Tenet) is less lucid and, in fact, he defends it with less naturalness and passion except for specific moments of euphoria in the throat, literally.What is most incredible about Malcolm & Marie is that it sounds in some pool for the Oscars because in fact it is not easy even to justify that its cost has risen to 30 million dollars.
It seems an exorbitant amount considering the final result. It is not a bad movie, but it is too pretentious and arrogant, in addition to portraying the “ten con ten” of artists and critics in a rather funny and stupid way considering that they need each other and, generally, have relationships of much more professional and positive collaboration that goes beyond personal affinities.
