‘You’re really hard to read…’
Relationship dynamics are a fascinating and frankly terrifying thing. When you are with someone for many years, every word and every action is weighed down by history. Looking at a relationship from the outside is never the same as being caught up in it. Black Bear forces two couples to examine those unique dynamics through the prism of art and fidelity. And it’s a thrilling ride…
Gabe (Christopher Abbot) and Blair (Sarah Gadon) are seemingly a loving couple with a child on the way. Their relationship is thrown into disarray following the arrival of glamorous film director Allison (Aubrey Plaza).
Arguing in front of other people is the absolute worst for everyone involved. It’s embarrassing, it’s awkward and nobody comes out of it looking good. Black Bear is basically that for two hours. And boy, is it excruciating. Every couple will recognise themselves at some point within Black Bear, with writer/director Lawrence Michael Levine repeatedly holding up a mirror to his audience. Whether it be Gabe’s solipsistic pretensions, Blair’s needy vulnerabilities or Allison’s enthusiasm for self destruction, there is a lot here to make the viewer feel uncomfortable with their own past behaviours. But that’s kind of the point. Levine doesn’t give any of his characters a free ride with loyalties and sympathies changing as the action unfolds.
I’ve long been a fan of Aubrey Plaza and Black Bear marks what is by far her finest performance to date. While the Oscars are never going to come calling for a weird indie flick, Plaza is at least as good as Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman here and I don’t say that lightly. Elsewhere, two actors that have recently found success on the small screen (Abbot as Yossarian in Catch 22 and Gordon as the eponymous star of Alias Grace) also excel, with Abbot particularly assured in a multi faceted and sometimes opaque role. Together, the three leads share an electric chemistry, and it is the scenes that they all share together that ignite the biggest spark.
Black Bear is a challenging, high concept movie that is designed to question its audience. I loved it.