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Film Review: Malcolm and Marie

By James Bonner, Staff Writer

“Malcolm and Marie” is an American, black-and-white romantic-drama starring Zendaya Coleman and John-David Washington. The film follows the filmmaker Malcolm and his girlfriend Marie after the premiere of Malcolm’s latest movie. The couple examines Marie’s role in the premiere as well as the complexities of their relationship in this almost two-hour film. 

The movie was created after Coleman had to suspend filming for her role in HBO series “Euphoria.” Coleman and “Euphoria” filmmaker Sam Levinson wanted to see if they could create a movie during quarantine and “Malcolm and Marie” was the outcome. The movie was shot in a Northern California house in two weeks. 

 In an article published by the New York Times, co-star Zendaya Coleman explained the creativity on set, 

“You know, it’s funny if you would have told us that there would be a conversation around, you know, awards or whatever, that’s crazy! We were all just figuring it out together,” Coleman said. 

 Coleman also talked about some of the details of the movie, “The film’s script was largely panned and set off several discussions on social media about the age difference between the stars.” This is because Washington is currently 36 while Zendaya is 24. Their age difference is 12 years. 

Post alumna Samantha Uebel shared her thoughts on the movie.

 “The first impression is that the movie seems suspenseful, sad, and bitterly truthful. Love isn’t as simple as people think it is,” she said. 

She goes on to speak on the classic look of the movie.

 “I think putting the movie into black and white added an old Hollywood glamour to it, which is ironic because it’s supposed to be about the realities of love and life.” 

Uebel says that she identifies with Malcolm as a character. 

“I’m similar to him in that way, I’m also a hopeless romantic,” she said. 

She speculated on the time the film took place, stating that, “I think this movie is set around the 80s because of Marie’s dress and makeup.”

Charli Beshers, another alumnus of Post campus who graduated with a mathematics major, loves the film. 

“First of all, I think it’s very important that it’s a love story with people of color in it,” she said. “I feel like those are very much things that are coming to the forefront nowadays but we’re still lagging a lot when it comes to diversity- but not just diversity but diversity being natural.” 

John David Washington is African American, and Zendaya has mixed ethnicities of African American, German and Scottish. 

Beshers goes on to explain the nuances of a relationship through the film’s use of black and white.

 “Love isn’t just about the good moments. It’s about the good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing, all the in-between, no black and white- just grey areas because things aren’t black and white in real life.”

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