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‘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
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
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 feeling about a missed hug, an unfeeling comment, or someone being too flirty. The static is light, but the unsaid feelings are bubbling just below the surface. Relatable.
Then things fall apart.
There were two sides to Malcolm and Marie’s fight like there were two sides to who won the presidential election.
The night deteriorates into something far more chaotic, volatile, and destructive. We’ve all been in arguments that led to raised voices, hurt feelings, things we wish we’d never said. But this? This fight between Malcolm and Marie was brutal. It was abusive. And it ventured far outside the realm of what we should consider the argument of a healthy relationship.
While Levinson’s script was sharp, if a bit uneven at times, it failed to produce two compelling sides, two equally justifiable perspectives. The movie…
