Lawrence Michael Levine’s Sundance debut, Black Bear, captivated its audience at its Friday festival premiere. Part of the festival’s NEXT forward thinking film lineup, and starring Aubrey Plaza, Black Bear is unpredictable and witty, and proves to be a stand out film of the festival. Even during the haunting, long cuts to black, you can’t look away.
The film’s script is enticingly dark, and remains completely fresh and witty- and who doesn’t love a twist? The film’s script isn’t the only thing setting it apart from Sundance counterparts, but it’s stellar performances from a power trio: Plaza alongside Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon. Initially, Plaza’s character Allison isn’t terribly different from the roles we’ve seen her play and love her for; she’s dark, funny, and hard to place your finger on. Soon, you’re thrown into a whirlwind, seeing Plaza more intriguing (not to mention psychotic) than ever.
We first meet Allison (Plaza) as a filmmaker, escaping to couple Gabe (Abbott) and Blair’s (Gadon) mountain retreat as she searches for inspiration for her next film. Set in the cabin-in-the-woods (make that a mansion) getaway of your dreams, the story takes twists and tuns, taking the term “alternate reality” to a new level, enabling three already complex and interesting characters to become bigger than themselves. And, yes, there is actually a black bear in the film- it’s not all just a metaphor.
It is inevitable these characters would stumble across an actual bear, as a main theme of the film centers around the overturn of force of nature, according to Levine: “We’re here on this planet but it’s very chaotic; we’re all trying to manage and tell ourselves stories to keep ourselves again…avoiding the truth,” the proud director goes on to quote a memorable line of Gabe’s within the film, noting the nature of life is simply that “natures is just going to do what it’s going to do.”
Black Bear becomes so complex one would assume it took endless revisions to get the script just right, to be so seamlessly satisfying. But Levine reveals his finished Sundance feature isn’t too different from his first draft. The film explores using cruel manipulation to create art, as Levine, “wanted to explore that… sometimes when you’re an artist and you’re creating things, you wonder how much you’re doing. It’s a very dark thing. You have to be psychological.” When asked by the audience if the film was “psychologically draining to go through,” Plaza jokes, “My life has fallen apart since we wrapped…draining is skimming the surface.”
Lawrence set out to make a film that felt like “a very, very vivid dream…not realism, something else.” And he did not fail: quick, funny, and striking, Black Bear is the type of film that haunts you for days after viewing. If you have time to see one film this Sundance season, make it Black Bear.