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The California Times is committed to reviewing theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because moviegoing carries risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials.
The title of “The Killing of Two Lovers” sounds at first like a spoiler, if it’s possible to spoil something that happens, or almost happens, in the very first scene. The lovers, Niki (Sepideh Moafi) and Derek (Chris Coy), are asleep in bed on a cold morning. Their putative killer, Niki’s husband, David (Clayne Crawford), looms over them (and us) with a loaded pistol. He takes aim but doesn’t shoot — there are children in the house — and instead takes off, fleeing in silent anguish from a situation that he knows no violence could solve.