Malcolm and Marie are the names that have been lurking in the news over the past couple of weeks. Emotional exploration, intensity, and insecurities, are some of the words used by many watchers to describe the new film. Former director of the teen drama Euphoria, Sam Levinson was also the director and screenplay writer of Malcolm and Marie. While watching the movie you go through an emotional rollercoaster not knowing what to expect next.

The cinema starts off black-and-white and the watcher notices that this doesn’t change throughout the entire movie. As one of the many watchers, the black-and-white film didn’t allow my mind to wander but only focus on the two, Malcolm and Marie.

“There was a thought also about reclaiming the narrative of black and white Hollywood and black actors really having their moment at that time,” Zendaya said.

A black-and-white two-hander guided by the rising tensions between its central couple could have bloomed into an intriguing picture if it was shaped by the right artists. After all, much of great cinema rests on the sparks that develop between two actors in a room. At times the film became difficult to watch due to the verbal abuse being thrown around. In much of the film, I began to find myself questioning the purpose of the story. What happens when you can’t answer that question by the end, was it exactly a good movie? In my opinion, there are some exceptions. No one remembers the exact lines, but the way the viewers felt sticks with them. I was moved and felt like I was being transferred between both characters’ bodies. The movie might not have followed traditional requirements, but a lot of themes are unpacked in only an hour and forty-five minutes. 

Films like this definitely keep us on our toes. At one point, during one of Malcolm’s endless protestations about the state of modern filmmaking, he declares, “Cinema doesn’t need to have a message. It needs to have a heart and electricity.” With Malcolm and Marie,  Levinson put a modern twist on authentic art. 

Photo Source: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/05/entertainment/malcolm–marie-review/index.html