‘Malcolm & Marie’ squanders Zendaya & Washington performances

Between the lush black-and-white photography and the presence of two magnetic stars, the romantic-drama “Malcolm & Marie” certainly looks like a prestige project from the Netflix overlords.

Unfortunately the actors are unfairly tasked with selling a ridiculous, repetitive and poorly-constructed script.

“Malcolm & Marie” stars Zendaya (a recent Emmy winner for HBO’s “Euphoria”) and John David Washington (“BlacKkKlansman,” “Tenet”) as a couple weaving in and out of a fight at their posh California home after the Los Angeles premiere of film director Malcolm’s latest effort. Zendaya’s Marie, a former actress, is initially miffed by Malcolm forgetting to thank her in a speech, though the couple’s deeper issues quickly bubble to the surface.

The film, written and directed by Sam Levinson (creator of “Euphoria”), filmed in secret this past summer with minimal crew and strict COVID-related protocols. Zendaya and Washington are the only two characters bouncing off each other in a single location, and credit Levinson for keeping the visual language of the film fresh despite those limitations.

The script, however, fails to give either performer anything of substance beyond occasional opportunities to scream at each other. Malcolm is particularly frustrated by a critic’s review, despite it being a rave, and he uses it as a springboard to air multiple, uninteresting grievances about Hollywood-related issues. Marie, meanwhile, seems to be harboring deep resentment about the origins of Malcolm’s film and how he mined her personal struggle for creative inspiration.

“Malcolm & Marie” moves in fits and starts too, and the characters veer wildly between sincere adoration and bitter hatred for each other. It doesn’t help that their fights aren’t really fights. Instead, each actor takes turns reciting an extended monologue about their feelings while the other sits silently. It’s not really how relationships work, even in the movies. There’s very little “verbal sparring” here. Just singular bluster.

To be fair, Zendaya and Washington sell their soliloquies as well as can be expected. Even when the material disappoints, the performers try to bring energy and passion to every word.

At one point in the film, Marie takes Malcolm to task about the “authenticity” of his work. It’s an odd conversation given how inauthentic the relationship seems, almost as if Levinson wrote preemptive responses to potential (or perhaps inevitable) criticism to the movie.

Honestly, the movie works better when it steers away from the Hollywood commentary and tries to see Malcolm and Marie as regular people. Unfortunately, people in real life rarely engage in 10-minute monologues about their past romantic conquests.

“Malcolm & Marie” is available for streaming on Netflix.

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Tyler Wilson has been writing professionally about movies and pop culture since 2000. He is the co-host of Old Millennials Remember Movies, available everywhere you find podcasts. He can be reached at [email protected].