Review

Netflix’s Malcolm and Marie is a cinematic melodrama, which pulls away the curtain of Hollywood glamour, to reveal the drama of a couple that seemingly has it all.

Netflix’s 30 million dollars acquired film features two of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors, John David Washington as Malcolm and Zendaya as Marie, with Sam Levinson as the film’s director, writer, and producer. The behind the camera talent, including cinematographer Marcell Rév, production designer Michael Grasley, and editor Julio Perez IV, have worked with Levinson before on the popular award-winning HBO series, Euphoria, for which Zendaya received an Outstanding Actress Emmy award. 

Perez’s editing style is best displayed in the action-comedy films American Made and Assassination Nation and the critically acclaimed horror films It Follows and His House. His editing, mixed with Rév’s cinematography, on 35mm film, gives Malcolm and Maire a visual feel of a classic Hollywood film. They distinctively and beautifully combined the use of shadows maximizing a small area, typical of the 1940s/1950s Film Noir and the editing of French New Wave. For instance, the Film Noir influence can be seen in Washington’s dance scene, where the camera is filming him from the outside of the home, looking inside through the window. While the French New Wave influence can be seen during the fast editing of the cuddle scene between Malcolm and Marie, as they talk and laugh about filmmaking.

Malcolm and Marie follows a couple who has just arrived after the successful film premiere of Malcolm’s directorial debut. While Malcolm is on cloud nine, Marie is upset over Malcolm forgetting to thank her in his acceptance speech. This lack of acknowledgment leads the couple down a rabbit hole, revealing the layers of manifested resentment that the couple has against each other.

The acting in this film beautifully resembles the presentation of a live play. Though Malcolm and Marie has repeatedly been compared to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, it’s far more similar to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. Like Taylor, Zendaya initially expresses more vulnerability through her words and clothing. Both women are in intimate apparel when around their men, revealing a part of themselves only to their men. While Newman and Washington love their women, both are too stubborn and unwilling to acknowledge the issues creating friction in the relationships. The men also stayed relatively dressed, as though they were also trying to non-verbally hide their vulnerability.

Malcolm and Marie challenge the love clichés that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in Hollywood films and TV, reminding us that love is more than just a four-letter word.

Malcolm and Marie premieres on February 5, 2021, exclusively on Netflix.

Director/writer: Sam Levinson Stars: John David Washington, Zendaya Rating: R Running Time: 1hr 46m Genres: Drama, Romance

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One of 2021’s first highly anticipated films, Malcom & Marie is set premiere on Netflix on February 5, 2021 following a theatrical run in select theaters in January.

Malcolm & Marie is already creating Oscar buzz, thanks to its artistically bold cast both in Infront of and behind the camera. These amazing talents include actors Zendaya (Euphoria, K.C. Undercover) and John David Washington (BlacKKKlansman,Tenet), director Sam Levinson (Euphoria,The Wizard of Lies), cinematographer Marcell Rév (Euphoria, Assassination Nation), composer Labrinth (Euphoria, Wonder Woman), and editor Julio Perez IV (Euphoria, American Made).

Perez reunites with the creative team of Euphoria as he continues to make a name for himself with his work as an editor on a wide variety of films from the groundbreaking modern horror film classic It Follows to now Malcom & Marie. His style of editing compliments the black and white visuals of Malcom & Marie. The film was shot on a 35 mm camera, giving it the clean stylistic, yet organic feel.

Purchased by Netflix for $30 million, Malcom & Maire was exclusively shot at the Feldman Architecture’s Caterpillar house located in Carmel, California, from June 17 – July 2, 2020. According to IMDB Malcom & Maire was first film to be written, directed, and completed during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. In order to film, the cast and crew followed the intensely strict entertainment union COVID-19 guidelines.

Malcolm & Maire is an achingly romantic drama which filmmaker (Washington) and his girlfriend (Zendaya) return home following a celebratory movie premiere as he awaits what’s sure to be imminent critical and financial success. The evening suddenly takes a turn as revelations about their relationships begin to surface, testing the strength of their love” – Netflix.

Malcolm & Marie reminisces both visually and artistically the groundbreaking and controversial 1966 Oscar-winning film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, which starred the iconic Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Burton.

If Malcolm & Marie garners Oscar nominations Washington, who is also a producer on the film, would have the unique chance of having a film nominated the same year as his father Denzel Washington, who is a producer for another Netflix film predicted to receive an Oscar nomination, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. And if Washington is nominated for an acting Oscar, he and his father will join the history books of parents and children who have acquired Oscar wins and nominations, including the Coppola family (Francis Ford Coppola, Carmine, and Coppola), the Fonda’s (Henry , Peter and Jane Fonda), the Douglas’ (Kirk and Michael Douglas), and the Garland/Minnelli’s (Judy Garland, Vincent Minnelli, and Liza Minnelli).

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