“Malcolm & Marie” is a black-and-white romantic film that was shot through the first months of quarantine.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the film.
- Malcolm & Marie is a 2021 American black-and-white romantic drama film
- It was written and directed by Sam Levinson
- The film stars John David Washington and Zendaya
- They both also produced
- The star as the title characters, a director and his girlfriend, whose relationship is tested on the night of his latest film’s premiere
- The project was the first Hollywood feature to be entirely written, financed, and produced during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Filming took place in secret in June and July 2020
- Malcolm & Marie was released in a limited release on January 29, 2021
- Before being released digitally on February 5, 2021, by Netflix
- The film received mixed reviews from critics
- Cirtics praised Zendaya and Washington’s performances and Levinson’s direction
- They criticized the screenplay
- Film director Malcolm Elliott returns home from his film premiere with his girlfriend Marie Jones
- Their relationship is tested when they discuss the film, their lives, the film industry, and society
- At the time, Sam Levinson and Zendaya were both involved in the HBO show Euphoria, which had stopped production due to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Yhe two discussed the possibility and idea of making a feature film project during the pandemic
- Levinson pitched several projects to Zendaya, including a psychological thriller they would film at her home
- He then began to come up with “a relationship piece that plays out in real time”
- John David Washington joined the project after Levinson read 10 pages of dialogue to Washington over the phone
- Washington said: “I couldn’t believe it. It was beautiful words I heard, and at the same time very disturbing with visceral confrontations”
- After receiving approval from the Writers Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America, the film began principal production from June 17 to July 2
- Shooting took place entirely at the Caterpillar House, a private home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
- The film followed local COVID-19 safety protocols, including the entire cast and crew being quarantined during shooting
- As well as two weeks before and after shooting, daily temperature checks, and increased sanitation measures
- The crew included many members of the Euphoria crew, including cinematographer Marcell Rév and production designer Michael Grasley
- Both Washington and Zendaya were responsible for doing their own makeup and picking out their own costumes, as there were no makeup artists or costume designer on set
- No more than 12 people were allowed on set at a time
- The production also had to be kept very confined so that the cast and crew could remain undisturbed during shooting
- The film was shot on black-and-white 35 mm film
- In September 2020, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film for $30 million, outbidding companies such as HBO, A24 and Searchlight Pictures
- On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 58% score
- Based on 156 critics
- It has an average rating of 6.4/10
- The website’s critics consensus reads, “Malcolm & Marie’s ambitions aren’t always satisfactorily fulfilled, but its flaws are often offset by the strong chemistry between the film’s stars”
- On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100
- Based on 41 critics
- Indicating “mixed or average reviews”
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