Sun 25 Apr 2021 03.00 EDT
The indie US film-maker Lawrence Michael Levine deploys Aubrey Plaza as both muse and mouthpiece in this tense dramedy about the ethics of the artistic process. If that sounds tedious, itâs not: Levineâs playful deconstruction of tortured genius is a witty and provocative send-up of tyrannical directors, diva-ish actors and over-invested voyeurs alike.
The film is organised in two acts. The first is a play-like three-hander in which minxy actor turned writer-director Allison (Plaza) embarks on a kind of writerâs retreat in upstate New York. She rents a room in a lakeside cabin owned by Gabe and Blair (Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon), a pair of unhappy âcreativesâ whose relationship she mines for material. The second act takes place on the disastrous last day of a film shoot, repurposing the lakeside location but rejigging everyoneâs roles. This time, Gabe is the writer-director, Allison his unhappy wife and the filmâs
Written and Directed by Lawrence Michael Levine.
Starring Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott, Sarah Gadon, Lindsay Burdge, Jennifer Kim, Paola Lázaro, Shannon O’Neill, Grantham Coleman, Alexander Koch, and Lou Gonzalez.
SYNOPSIS:
A filmmaker at a creative impasse seeks solace from her tumultuous past at a rural retreat, only to find that the woods summon her inner demons in intense and surprising ways.
There is likely going to come a point where one thinks they have
Black Bear figured out, only for it to pull a “lol no” on the viewer reshaping the context of the narrative, slowly piecing itself together like a jigsaw puzzle. And while I’m not sure writer/director Lawrence Michael Levine is actually saying anything within all of the toxic relationship dynamics filtered through indie filmmaking, the movie offers a demented pleasure in watching it come together. It’s a testament that sometimes an idea with confident direction and committed actors is more than enough to of