No disrespect to writer/director Sam Levinson, but Malcolm & Marie is a movie that lives or dies by its actors. John David Washington and Zendaya are the only two people in the movie, and the entire conflict is about the relationship between these two characters. For all of the long monologues and stark black-and-white cinematography, Malcolm & Marie belongs to Washington and Zendaya. Thankfully, they once again prove why they’re among the most exciting actors working today and part of a new generation that’s going to take over Hollywood. Both have to run the emotional gamut as the characters plunge the depths of their emotional baggage and history while also making the romance feel lived-in and, to borrow a word the film considers loaded, “authentic.” The result is a movie that can feel like an emotional drain due to the built-up hostility between these two characters but is always captivating thanks to the performances.

Malcolm (Washington) and Marie (Zendaya) have come home late after the premiere of Malcolm’s new movie, which is about a young woman struggling with drug addiction. Emotions are already tense as Malcolm is riding high from the premiere, but Marie is upset because he didn’t thank her in his speech before the movie. This seed of not being thanked eventually explodes into a pendulum throughout the night as the couple vacillates between knock-down, drag-out verbal brawls where you attempt to hurt the other person in the way only a loved one can and brief interludes of reconciliation. Through these conversations and extended monologues, Malcolm and Marie reveal their own insecurities that are eating away at their relationship.

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Image via Dominic Miller / Netflix © 2021

Some viewers may wonder why they would want to spend 100 minutes watching a couple verbally assault each other and use their own insecurities as reason to be cruel to someone they love, and the answer is that it makes for really compelling drama. You’re watching two young stars show why they’re going to be a force in Hollywood for decades to come. It’s an actors’ showcase, and Levinson provides the material and the space to demand our attention. While it may not be surprising that Washington and Zendaya are this good (they’ve already established themselves as leads because of their outstanding work in previous efforts), there’s something special about ceding the stage to two actors and letting the film’s success rest on their shoulders. There’s nowhere for Malcolm & Marie to hide. It can’t dodge behind nifty VFX or intricate plotting. It’s a character-driven two-hander drama, and if there was ever any doubt that Washington and Zendaya are for real, that doubt has been thoroughly demolished.

What Malcolm & Marie understands is that the reason there’s a thin line between love and hate is because we give those we love the tools to hurt us in the most intimate way imaginable. Malcolm & Marie constantly runs that gamut as they both know how to twist the knife before retreating to a safe distance in preparation for the inevitable next battle. And it all stems from the fact that Marie thinks she should have been thanked for Malcolm’s movie and Malcolm’s stubbornness at having to do more than a cursory apology on what he feels is a triumphant night. Levinson shows that the real conflict isn’t so much between two people with competing agendas as much as it’s between our selfish impulses and the selflessness that love requires.

John David Washington and Zendaya in Malcolm & Marie
Image via Dominic Miller / Netflix © 2021

Where the movie may lose some viewers is when Malcolm is popping off against film critics, particularly an unnamed critic for the L.A. Times, who serves as a straw man for the current state of film criticism. And yet as a critic, I never really felt offended or called out by these scenes because I didn’t take them at face value. It feels like what Levinson is trying to do is not editorialize against critics as much as showing the depth of Malcolm’s insecurities. He goes on a lengthy diatribe after reading a positive review because the critic wasn’t complimentary in the way he wanted to be complimented. Instead, he saw just another adversary needing to be conquered, and that informs us of how he views Marie and his desire to “win” his fight against her.

Malcolm & Marie goes to some dark places even though it’s only in words. There’s no physical abuse or violence, but the sting of the words takes an emotional toll. You have two people at their most vulnerable and defensive lashing out at the person who loves them because they don’t feel loved in the way they need to be loved. It makes for a heartbreaking portrait, not because of what’s been lost (we only hear them talk about their past; we never see it), but because we know how brutal this kind of relationship can be. To even call it “toxic” may be too much of simplifier, and I appreciate how Levinson, Washington, and Zendaya work to draw out the texture and nuances of this couple at the brink. Malcolm & Marie is not a love store or a hate story, but a story of how those two emotions can weave, interlock, and snap in a sentence, a look, and a moment.

Rating: B+

Malcolm & Marie arrives on Netflix on February 5th.

Malcolm & Marie Poster