Legion,
Parks and Rec star Aubrey Plaza has proved to have exceptional range, mastering dramatic and humorous undertones. Her latest acting and producing gig, writer/director Lawrence Michael Levine’s
Black Bear, is a wild rollercoaster ride that demands you keep your eyes open. This thriller is a feverish nightmare that kicks off as a play-like drama and morphs into a satirical love/hate letter to independent filmmaking. As such, it focuses on the power dynamics on set, messing with the viewer’s notions of commitment, love, and art-making.
Shot in chronological order,
Black Bear steers clear of providing viewers with a specific time setting. The location, on the other hand, is crucial to the story. In a remote lake house in the Adirondack Mountains, the power dynamics between the characters constantly evolve. The non-linear events are tied together by recurring symbols: the lake, a red swimsuit, and the titular bear.