MALCOLM & MARIE
Hidden Gem of the Awards Season + Best Scenes
Zendaya’s and John David Washington’s performance in Netflix’s Malcolm and Marie comes secondary to the scrutiny that the film carries. Perhaps the near-two-hour dialogue will be put by the waist side due to this, in ways making this already a gem of its time.
Released last month, the Sam Levinson piece is centered around the two titular characters played by the stars. Inspired by Levinson forgetting to thank his wife at the premiere of his film Assassination Nation, the film undertakes the dynamic between director and spouse. Following a premiere of Malcolm’s film, the couple spent the night reminiscing on the event in… let’s just say, “healthy arguments.”
The couple trade a war-of-words that slowly pulls back the curtain of their domestic life by subtly adding tropes to each character’s arc.
One, a young aspiring actor, but the recovering addict.
The other, a filmmaker that struggles with how the public views them and their work. Both seek validation, from critics, but even more so from each other.
The film was one of the few that preserved through the pandemic. As upon planning for the film, Zendaya ultimately offered her house to film the project, setting up for the linear sequences in the film.
Despite the simplistic story arc, the context within the film, as well as other fundamental traits to the film, drew the ire of many.
Ranging from the ages of the respective actors down to its attacks on how white media interprets films by people of color.
Levinson, best known for his work on HBO’s Euphoria, the same show Zendaya nabbed an Emmy-award for, addressed the ideology behind the casting, as Washington is 12-years older than the former Disney star.
The director prefaced by stating the gaps are seen historically in films, as the portrayal of the fiction and nonfiction characters often offer the dynamic of the older male, younger female.
In this case, it played to the film: “I’m just not sure the criticism is applicable to this particular project because [the age difference] is part of its DNA.”
Another point was the attack on viewers, who tend to resort to applying stereotypical struggles onto demographics instead of analyzing a piece under a uniform lens.
It was revealed that Levinson allowed for Washington to ad-lib his many parts, citing the subtle racial undertones by critics as a source of his anxiety.
Ideally, telling the audience that art is art no matter what color made it, and it should be looked at the same way as the next one.
As for the barbs, it illustrates the conflict that every couple encounters at some point. Centered around the very thing that the film will struggle to get: validation.
