In self-indulgent dialogue reverberating around
ego, art and filmmaking, “Malcolm & Marie”
more reflects a Twitter argument brought to
life, with film-theory sparring between Malcolm
(Washington), a director, and Marie (Zendaya),
the young woman who inspired his just-
premiered film. For such a well-heeled film, it’s
strikingly, frustratingly hollow.
Conceived and shot stealthily during the
pandemic, “Malcolm & Marie” (debuting Friday
on Netflix) has the benefit of feeling fresh at a
time when little else does. At first, Levinson’s
camera glides back and forth outside the house,
peering through the windows, as Malcolm
and Marie return home. It’s 1 a.m. in Malibu
and Malcolm is amped from the triumphant
premiere of his film. “Did you see the audience?
I said did you see in the audience?” he exclaims
in between fixing a drink and turning the music
up. But Marie is less enthused. In Malcolm’s long
list of thank yous, he omitted her name, even
though the film — she claims, he disagrees —
is about her life as a recovering drug addict.
(Levinson created the HBO series “Euphoria,”
starring Zendaya as a teenager out of rehab.)
Credit is only one of the points of contention, as
the two exchange body blows in between bouts
of romance, bath tubs and mac ’n cheese. She
calls him a fraud. He needles her stalled career as
an actor. But the dominant thread is Malcolm’s
ongoing criticism and debate about how his
work is received “through a political lens.” As a
Black man, he resents critics comparing him to
Barry Jenkins when he considers William Wyler a
more fitting comparison. “Not everything I do is
political just because I’m Black,” he says.