‘Malcolm & Marie’ Isn’t About a Relationship, It’s About Abuse

You expect a movie about getting through a rough patch — but what you get is something far darker

Photo: Netflix

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I thought I knew about Malcolm & Marie when I sat down to watch it. I knew it was a black and white movie, was filmed during a pandemic, starred John David Washington and Zendaya, and was written and directed by her Euphoria collaborator Sam Levinson. I also knew — or thought I knew — that it was about relationship fights, the kind of squabbles and bickering that we all experience. I expected a movie about marriage and partnership that I could identify with.

You may be going into the movie expecting the same. But you should also go in prepared for what actually transpires in Malcolm and Marie’s home and how we define it.

The movie opens with Malcolm pacing around the house, his adrenaline still coursing after being in a room full of critics and peers raving about his movie premiere. He’s so consumed by his excitement that he doesn’t notice Zendaya stewing as she lights a cigarette. It seems like a night we’ve all had before: one person so hype that they don’t register how their partner is…