Review: Black Bear

Art imitating life imitating art imitating life.  ‘Black Bear’, Aubrey Plaza’s latest Drama/Comedy/Thriller is a funhouse mirror looking at itself; a take on desire, manipulation, jealousy, stress, and consequences.

Where does the story start, and where does it end?  Which comes first?  And which begets which?

The Plot

Aubrey Plaza stars as Allison, an Actress turned Director, checking in at a Bed and Breakfast Lakehouse to clear her mind and seek inspiration for her latest project.

Christopher Abbott stars as Gabe, the proprietor of the B & B who greats Allison and offers to carry her bag as they approach the Lakehouse.  Chemistry and tension immediately start to build.  That is until Allison is greeted by Blair, played by Sarah Gadon.  Blair is visibly in her second trimester of pregnancy, and in some sort of relationship with Gabe.

Searching glances from Allison to Gabe, Gabe to Blair, and Blair to Allison peppered throughout our introduction raise the tension.  Is Gabe with Blair?  Yes and No.  Is Allison drawn to Gabe, and is Blair threatened by Allison?  Yes And No.

We jump to Dinner where the wine starts to flow as much as the get-to-know-you chit chat.  Gabe and Blair ask Allison about her life in front of the camera, clearly already knowing some of the answers.  Awkward tension mixed with polite niceties give way to increasing resentment and blunt emotion.

Gabe and Blair have issues surrounding the current stage of their lives, and are clearly not on the same page.  Blair’s emotions eventually boil over, and goes to bed, leaving Gabe and Allison all alone.  A few more bottles of wine, a midnight swim, and yadda yadda yadda, we know this will not end well.

Jump to several months earlier.  Allison wears a red swimsuit, sitting on a towel, on a dock on a lake.  Already the third time we see Allison in her red swimsuit, sitting on a towel on a dock on a lake, this time seems different.  We follow Allison as she wraps the towel around her waist, walks up the dock, and takes a cigarette from a man.

Over a megaphone we hear, “Back to One!”  Allison is on set of her latest movie, being directed by her husband Gabe, her husband of six years.

Things are not going smoothly for the production as it limps towards the final days of shooting.  Gabe storms off, leaving Allison to do yet another take of the same shot.  Gabe wanders upstairs to Blair, an actress playing ‘the other woman’ to Allison’s character.

While outside we briefly meet members of the crew of the independent movie.  Cahya, the First Assistant Director takes over for Gabe, as Maude checks the makeup, Baako readies his camera, and Nora struggles to supervise the script.

After a rushed Dinner break, the crew prepares for the final scene of the shoot.  Allison’s preparation for the scene included more than a little bit of alcohol.  Mike, Allison’s movie-within-a-movie husband, Blair, and Allison film an emotional scene eerily similar to one we saw in the first act.

The Good: Black Bear

‘Black Bear’ is an independent movie about the filming of and independent movie named ‘Black Bear’.  If that sounds more than a little bit of art imitating life imitating art imitating life; you’re right!

The whole film and film within a film take a meta look at filmmaking, and the relationships between the cast and crew that develop in such close quarters.  The structure of the film is fairly simple, but layered with nuance and callbacks. 

While I have not ever been on a film set, the behind-the-scenes scenes of the movie-within-a-movie echo with sub-plots I’m guessing most of the actors in the film have really experienced on set at one point or another.  It’s equal parts annoying and hilarious, as every single person and job description seem like the worst stereotypes of themselves.

The parallel storylines echo each other in a well put together and fascinating way.  Aubrey Plaza plays Allison as an almost elevated version of her already aloof, laconic self.

The singular location of the lakehouse feels almost more like a stage production than an actual movie  But, given the entire hour and 44 minute film takes place at this one location, the setting serves the film well; especially given the isolated nature of the lakehouse, and I’m assuming the set of a movie can be in real life.

The Bad: Black Bear

Overall, very little in the Bad category for this film. 

The biggest challenge for this film is the likability factor.  Because ALL of the cast and crew characters get quirky personality traits, almost NONE of them are likable.  By demystifying the movie making experience, they’ve gone so far in mocking the process, they make you NOT want to go to a movie set, like EVER.

Even the script supervisor is so high, she can’t keep up with what lines should be spoken next.  While this is kind of funny sounding, the scenes are played for drama to raise the tension even further.

The Review: Black Bear

Overall, this is a well crafted film with truly interesting layering.  The film pulls no punches with any of the characters, going for the jugular in all of the extreme examples of behavior throughout the cast and crew.

Aubrey Plaza gives a particularly ‘Aubrey Plaza’ style performance, with the ENTIRE film built around that style.  So, anyone watching to see her do her thing won’t be disappointed.

The storytelling is done in a pseudo stage style, and builds well over time.  The tension and love triangle drama feels earned, while sometimes bordering on melo-drama.  It’s labelled as a Comedy, but is really a Drama/Thriller with some comedic flare.  If you like Aubrey Plaza and her style, you will like this film.  If you don’t, you may just be annoyed at everyone involved.

Rated R.  104 Minutes.