Mumblecore gets a bad rap. I assume it’s the name, which most of the filmmakers lumped into that sub-genre didn’t care for. And don’t get me wrong, some of those movies are annoying and bad. Friends and I who got into those films were mainly responding to Andrew Bujalski’s first two films. Cassavetes was an influence, but Bujalski was also keen on Mike Leigh and Eric Rohmer. I thought of Bujalski’s film Mutual Appreciation when I was watching Matt and Mara (2024) as they’re both about “emotional relationships” and the emotional and mental dance between friends who are too close.
Mara (Deragh Campbell) teaches poetry at a university, and hasn’t written in awhile, focused on her work and raising a child with an indie rock musician. Walking back into her life is an old friend, a celebrated author Matt (Matt Johnson) who shows up before one of her classes to say hello. We only find out later that his dad is dying in hospital, though there isn’t a clear catalyst given for this reemergence. They haven’t spoken in seven years, and yet they seem to fall back into old habits, bringing different things out of themselves in their hangs.
Campbell is particularly good as Mara with the quiet, more introspective role, how she changes between time with her family, her students and with Matt, the sides of her that she’s showing, possibly who she used to be when they were in grad school together. And yet also how close she holds her hand over the flame. Matt Johnson is funny, and with his tight black t-shirt fulfils a certain masculine writer archetype. Kazik Radwanski’s direction and Nikolay Michaylove’s cinematography is observational, following the duo as they walk through the city, take a road trip together, or wander around Niagara Falls.
I thought this was very good, and gets across strong emotions in stolen moments. People with a capacity for words, but unable to say what’s truly going on in their heads and hearts because the game would be over, the spell broken, the self open and prone to collapse. Keen to see the previous film they all made together, Anne at 15000 Feet. Available on Mubi. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 