Malcolm & Marie – A Romantic Drama Filled with Top-notch Performances

Malcolm & Marie is a 2021 Romantic Drama film written and produced by brilliant director Sam Levinson starring John David Washington and Zendaya. The movie is filled with heart and electricity and not just the message which again is what the lead character fills in the movie.

The film opens with a scene in which the couple Malcolm (John David Washington) and Marie (Zendaya) enters their apartment from a successful premiere of Malcolm’s new film. Malcolm seems to be incredibly happy about it and was lying on the kitchen floor carefree on the other hand Marie appeared disturbed about something while she is macaroni and cheese for Malcolm.

Malcolm notices Marie and asks her about the reason for her distress. Marie was upset because she believed that the character named Imani in Malcolm’s film is based on her life and thought she didn’t receive enough credit for it and it leads to an ugly argument between them.

The film then moves further keeping the quarreling part between Malcolm and Marie constant. Later, Malcolm finds out a review that gave Malcolm’s film a political aspect. Despite the positive review, Malcolm did not want the film to be political he wanted to be recognized for the efforts he took as a filmmaker to make the film and not some political agenda. This agitated Malcolm. Marie comforted him for the moment, and they seem to be bonding.

The verbal argument continues again after a short time which is too long and exhausting to watch. The film is criticized by many people. The film needs a very emotional audience who loves drama. Apart from that the black and white portrayal of the film makes it very elegant and beautiful.

Sam Levinson has said the movie has autobiographic elements (he once forgot to thank his wife in a speech), and that he wrote it very quickly after shooting on the second season of Euphoria was abruptly canceled due to Covid and Zendaya asked him to come up with a new project.

Levinson portrays the plot cunningly that keeps us teasing with scraps of information from the couple’s past. As you try to pick these moments from their past, you end up recontextualizes their relationship with every moment. Although, this can be a perfect mixture of short arguments, sudden reconciliation, and quick make-out sessions. However, throughout this, the camera glance through the couple’s lives very invasively which perfectly captures the private reactions of each character while they are going through a gamut of emotions.

John David Washington joined the project after Levinson read 10 pages of dialogue to Washington over the phone, saying “I couldn’t believe it. It was beautiful words I heard, and at the same time very disturbing with visceral confrontations.”

Both the actors played their part superbly. They embodied and brought the character to life. John David Washington and Zendaya were heavily praised for the acting which makes it worth watching the movie.