The hype for “Malcolm and Marie” outweighs the actual experience of the film, leaving viewers bored and dissatisfied.

Directed by Sam Levinson, the movie centers around the titular couple, Marie (Zendaya) and Malcolm (John David Washington).The movie begins with the two returning home from Malcolm’s premiere of his new movie.

Marie does not reciprocate Malcolm’s joy.

Marie’s issue is that Malcolm didn’t thank her in his speech, especially because the protagonist of his film was largely based on her past experience with drug addiction and mental illness.

The entire film is the couple having an argument about this, as Marie feels rightfully unappreciated and Malcolm denies his narcissism.

The movie is a 146-minute long couple fight that could have lasted 30 minutes.

Although I can’t discredit the movie completely. If you had only watched the first 30 minutes you would’ve missed some extremely tasteful camerawork and a well-chosen soundtrack.

The movie also brought up some scarily realistic portrayal of unhealthy relationships.

Marie’s grief caused by Malcolm’s self-absorption is all too similar to the often back-burner placement that some girlfriends get, especially ones in relationships with these insecure creative types.

Nonetheless, Zendaya’s portrayal of a recovering drug addict was not realistic.

Of course, everyone in recovery is different. But I have been around people in recovery and I just don’t find it as played up as Zendaya.

This could be because of how serious of a role this is. Zendaya, being only 24 years old, might not have been ready for something this intense.

It seems that Levinson made the film to push Zendaya into more serious acting, especially after her work with Levinson on the HBO series “Euphoria.”

“Malcolm and Marie” was a disappointment. There was nothing to the film that stood out and caught my eye past those first 30 minutes.

Rating: 2 out 5 stars