Malcom & Marie (2020) - written by Iris Neuberg

Malcolm & Marie

Malcolm, Marie and what they owe each other

Director: Sam Levinson

Writer: Sam Levinson

Stars: John David Washington, Zendaya

IMDb: 6,7

Minor Spoilers – You better watch the movie first

You know a movie is intense when you hit the pause button to go on a little toilet break and shockingly realize that only twenty minutes have passed, when you could have sworn that you should at least be halfway through the movie. 

Malcolm & Marie is Hollywood’s bottle episode. A seemingly simple movie, with only two actors in it and one single movie set. A break from the explosions and gunfights, away from the visual rollercoasters and fast changes of events.

All we do is watch two characters, Malcolm and Marie, argue in a way that is so beautiful that we should take a minute of silence in order to mourn that graceful way of arguing. It is with the kind of anger that stems from love and devotion not from arrogance and self-opinionated dogmatism. At least so I thought at the beginning, but their relationship is messy and so is their night. 

The movie begins with the couple coming back from the premier of Malcolm’s latest film. He is in a great mood. Marie on the other hand is obviously upset about something. 

What follows is a series of fights about all the small and big, the groundbreaking and neglectable things in their lives, their relationship, on planet Earth and the entire universe. It makes the audience wonder, whether they even love each other to begin with.

Maybe we find the answer to that question at minute 49 with one very important quote from Malcolm. “[…] the reason I’m with you is I love you. I just love you, Baby. I don’t need you, but I love you.” 

I say maybe because this confession of love has a bitter side note. He tells her that he loves her. He tells her, because he has failed to show her or to make her feel it. He has to say it aloud, in order for her to know. Moreover, he insists on also letting her know that while he loves her, he does not need her. Even in this seemingly pure and beautiful moment in a relationship that the audience has only witnessed crumbling, he makes it clear that he is the independent one. He still needs to put himself in a higher position, but remains smart enough to sugarcoat it in a romantic gesture. However, in his mind he does not need her. He does not need anything from her. He does not take; therefore, he does not owe her. Microaggressions like these as well as other toxic characteristics of Malcolm keep appearing throughout the movie.

Does this disprove his love towards Marie? How about Marie? Does she even love him? Plenty of other occasions give the audience the notion that maybe this movie is not about their love at all. Maybe it is about the dynamics that a couple’s relationships can have, while barely touching the question of romantic love. 

Obviously, Malcolm and Marie have given each other a lot. They are both broken people who further broke and healed alongside one another. What we now witness for 106 minutes is their struggle with the most current question of our society: What do we owe each other?

Does Malcolm owe Marie gratitude after she inspired the best piece of work in his career? Does Marie owe Malcolm her humbleness since he helped her through rehab?

Does Malcolm owe Marie an apology after he decided to cast another actor for the role that she seemed destined to play?

Does Marie owe Malcolm her understanding when he is dissatisfied with a critic’s review of his movie? 

Do they owe support to each other? Do they owe companionship to each other? Do they owe inspiration to each other? Do they owe Mac’n’Cheese to each other? Do they owe a “You are right and I am sorry!” to each other? Do they owe love to each other?

What do they owe each other? We can watch them argue about it while almost breaking apart with every attempt to answer that very question.

“I don’t know where you’re going, but I’m not done. Not even fucking close to being done.” (1:31:18) Marie says it almost at the end of the movie. The audience cannot help but feel that she is right. She is not done. They could go on like this forever and never agree about what it is, that they actually owe to each other. It is that exact moment when she turns it all around and answers that question herself. 

You see, the beginning of their first argument was her being mad, at him for not thanking her in his speech. She felt like he owed it to her. But the main question is not what we owe to each other. It is what we owe to ourselves. She feels that she deserves that ‘Thank You’. Therefore, Marie endsthat movie by doing just that. She thanks herself. She stopped expecting it from her partner and thanked herself in her last monologue that takes over 3 minutes. Marie’s last words in this movie are: “Thank you”. To which Malcolm simply responds: “I love you, Marie.” So maybe the movie is about love after all.