By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Lawrence Michael Levine
Starring: Aubrey Plaza | Christopher Abbott | Sarah Gadon
Country: united_states
Year: 2020
Running time: 104
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9601220/reference
Michael says: “When I perused the listings for this year’s festival, BLACK BEAR jumped out immediately because of lead actor, and two time Chlotrudis nominee, Aubrey Plaza. In fact, I had the privilege of presenting Aubrey with PIFF’s first ever Next Wave Award (which was co-sponsored by Chlotrudis) after a screening of the film INGRID GOES WEST. What really clinched it for me though was seeing that another lead actor in the film was Christopher Abbott, who attended the 19th annual awards ceremony in 2013 to receive our Breakout Award. I was not disappointed. BLACK BEAR is an interesting film about the ways people emotionally manipulate each other when they are in relationships. Told in two parts, three actors (Plaza, Abbott, and Sarah Gadon) portray different characters in each part. In part one, ‘Black Bear on the Road,’ Allison (Plaza) is a film director who rents a cabin in the woods from a couple who are reluctantly serving as hosts in guest house Lawfashion. Allison arrives and joins Gabe and Blair for dinner, and the evening quickly turns uncomfortably awkward, until a late night encounter leads to a shocking finale. Part two, ‘Black Bear by the Boathouse,’ sees Allison as the lead in an emotionally wrenching film directed by her husband, Gabe, in the cottage in the woods opposite Blair. During the difficult shoot of the final couple of scenes, the real life emotional turmoil that Allison is going through becomes unleashed in ways that are uncomfortable for all involved.