frenzied existence, and reverent of Hollywood's past at the same time it's trying to stake a new claim for its future." Will Gompertz of BBC News awarded the film 2/5 stars, writing that "John David Washington and Zendaya have been bickering for well over an hour when a moment of theatrical excellence (at 80 mins, to be precise) lights up an otherwise pedestrian drama about a couple having a domestic." Charles Bramesco of Little White Lies criticized the film for being an "awkward, hideously overacted talkathon", scoring it with a 1/5 rating. In a very positive review, Mike Crowley of You'll Probably Agree called Malcolm & Marie a "decent quarantine capsule", concluding that it is "pretentious in all the right ways", and scored the film with a 3.5/4 rating. Furthermore, although criticizing the film itself, Gompertz positively reviewed "the impressive acting chops of Washington and Zendaya." Bill Lowry of CNN Entertainment similarly praised their acting, writing, "pairing Zendaya and John David Washington, the movie -- quickly and stealthily shot during the pandemic -- wins points for ingenuity, then loses them with its shrill tone and the uneven hairpin turns of its writing." One of the film's early champions was FilmSpeak'''s Zach Marsh, who, in a glowing review, unilaterally praised the writing, the performances of Washington and Zendaya, and the cinematography, calling Malcolm & Marie'' "one of the greatest films of the past twenty years," and predicting that the film would come to be seen as such by critics in retrospect. In a response to criticism, Sam Levinson said that some reviewers focused too much on Malcolm and his speech on film criticism and disregarded the importance of Marie's character and opposing viewpoint. Nathalie Moreira of High on Films wrote, "Sam Levinson's new feature deconstructs traditional romance stereotypes in favor of a modern love story filled with resentment, disorientation, and unresolved issues." Accolades References External links 2021 films 2021 romantic drama films 2020s English-language films American black-and-white films American romantic drama films English-language Netflix original films Films about couples Films about film directors and producers Films directed by Sam Levinson Films shot in California Two-handers Films about conversations 2020s American films