VIFF 2024: ‘Matt and Mara’ Review
Early in Kazik Radwanski’s latest film, Matt and Mara, Mara (Deragh Campbell) shares with Matt (Matt Johnson) a synopsis of a story she’s working on centered around a character who worries that her entire personality can be changed by someone else simply because they know her more than she knows herself. It’s an idea that permeates throughout Radwanski’s intimate depiction of modern relationships. It also fuels Mara’s character as she contends with uncertainty about her own true feelings. A two-hander carried comfortably by the endearing yet tumultuous chemistry between its two stars, Matt and Mara pries at social anxieties in a wonderfully nuanced character study of people navigating complex feelings in their personal and artistic lives.
The catalyst for this exploration of self in relation to others is brought on when Mara reunites with Matt, an old friend who has since become a successful author. His arrival sparks introspection in Mara as her marriage to an experimental musician, Samir (Mounir Al Shami), seems just as uncertain as her feelings toward Matt. There is love in Mara and Samir’s relationship, however understated. They seem to be in a groove where each work (Mara at the university and Samir on music with his band), and then they come home and spend time with their child, Avery (Avery Nayman). There’s no doubt that Mara and Samir love each other, and it’s evident in the quiet moments they can still spend together, though that silence is often punctured by an uneasy tension that seems to follow Mara around.
That same scene where Mara tells Matt of the ideas she has for a character is also a fantastic showcase of Matt and Mara's tone. Sitting in a coffee shop, Matt and Mara talk the day away until closing time, while a passive-aggressive barista cranks their metal music up and flips their open sign to closed while making eye contact with the two. They become trapped in a socially anxious situation where they lose track of time and keep someone working late, but the barista never mentioned that they were closing. Who is at fault? And more importantly, who will admit it? It’s a scene where the pleasantness of a conversation can become suddenly hostile because it’s not just one external force pressing down on an individual - it’s everything in a situation. And the way some of us handle situations is to try and defuse while still refusing to acknowledge we may be in the wrong.
Much of that nervous energy stems from Campbell’s performance as Mara, where she seems fragile yet cautiously confident. Her interactions with Matt underline a willingness to stand up for herself in the right circumstances, which can create a toxic feeling between them, thanks to Matt’s persistently aggressive nonchalance. He is carefree and arrogant to the point of being insufferable in many instances, and yet, the relationship between him and Mara somewhat makes sense. Where Samir and Mara have fallen into a rhythm, Matt offers a shock to the status quo and provokes Mara into falling further into the uncertain. But it also seems slightly controlling. He analyzes her and claims to understand how she behaves (again, the coffee shop scene has him explain this to her). In many ways, he is the mysterious other person she fears can change her personality.
Matt and Mara features a nuanced screenplay that makes these small moments mean more than they initially seem. It’s also nestled neatly within the city of Toronto, which, for artists, can sometimes feel like a place of stagnation as others leave the city and thrive. Matt went to pursue his writing career as Mara stayed behind and entered the world of academia. Living in the city, you sometimes run into people still doing the same thing they’ve always been doing, which may not be necessarily bad, but at a certain point, it can feel like a prison of complacency. It can also lead to a toxic mindset where others’ successes, no matter how small, can force you into resentment. While Matt and Mara is not wholly about this, there’s an unshakeable component to Mara’s character that reflects some of that anxiety that goes hand-in-hand with being confronted by a peer who became more successful. How you decide to define that is up to you.
Radwanski’s film often feels reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunset. Specifically, the collaborative process between Radwanski, Campbell, and Johnson paints a more embellished portrait of a past slowly resurfacing in present-day interactions. The time that passed and where the characters are now give Matt and Mara its satisfying exploration of the titular characters’ relationship. The unspeakable tension of whether they will get together haunts the film because it looms over a marriage that is not unhealthy but is also not thriving. It’s not just dismantling complacency in the name of artistic freedom - it’s also negotiating the security lost, as well as the loved ones hurt, when assessing your own pursuits. Finding the balance between the freedom to be yourself and the comfort of stability turns Matt and Mara’s central tensions into more than just whether passion can disrupt contentment and becomes a richly textured analysis of modern-day anxieties in the creation of art.
The 2024 edition of the Vancouver International Film Festival will take place between September 26th and October 6th. More information on the lineup can be found on the festival's official website.
