The movie is “ Black Bear,” a meta thriller about
moviemaking, creativity and ego from writer-
director Lawrence Michael Levine that debuted
earlier this year at Sundance and is the kind of
indie that can so easily get lost just because it is
never going to be an Oscar contender. It also has
the misfortune of being enormously tricky to
describe coherently or satisfyingly: It essentially
becomes a different movie halfway through.
But even though it is purposefully disorienting
and occasionally a little too heightened, it is
never not interesting and keeps you rapt with
its captivating performances, revealing dialogue
and moody, lo-fi style.
In the first section, Plaza plays Allison, an actor
turned filmmaker who has decided to escape
to a bed and breakfast in the woods on a lake
to work on her next screenplay. Her movies, she
says, are the small, unsuccessful ones that no
one likes. And she quit acting because she was
difficult or not pretty enough or, more likely,
some other reason she would rather not admit
to herself much less a stranger whose property
she’s renting.
The cabin is maintained by a young, pretty
couple Gabe (Christopher Abbott), a musician,
and Blair (Sarah Gadon), a dancer, who are
expecting their first child. Their struggling
artist life in Brooklyn was too expensive and
unsuccessful to continue and they’re trying on
the rustic life for a change. Although, like an
unhappy couple who have been isolated for too
long, the cracks are starting to show.
The first act unravels like a play. The three have
a long, wine-fueled dinner talking, bickering
and provoking one another to the breaking