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Black Bear starts out innocently enough with Allison, played by Aubrey Plaza arriving at a cottage in the middle of the woods to work on her next movie script she is writing while staying with Blair and Gabe played by Sarah Gadon and Christopher Abbott respectively. Things start out at an 11, with all three laying bare some deep dark secrets and cutting into each other hard despite Allison not knowing either of them and the couple supposedly are in love and expecting a child. Things get weirder, then an accident occurs and everything we know about the movie so far is proven moot.
It is quite a hard film to review without spoiling anything and you can’t even describe the basic premise without laying out plot points that would ruin it all, but suffice to say there is a key moment late in the first act where after admitting to lying about certain things, Allison reveals how she starts writing a film. She starts with a central idea, then expands on it until it is fully fleshed out. The film is more about how we manipulate people for our own personal gain and how those around us that we should trust are usually able to see through it and may even counter manipulate you. The film is dark and cringe-worthy funny and sometimes you will laugh at the wrong part, just when someone is finally saying something honest and suddenly you have egg on your face.
The film ends with a short coda that leaves it up to the viewers interpretation as to what even transpired, what was real and what was just a lie to get you to stay interested. Aubrey Plaza and Sarah Gadon both turn in stellar performances where you can’t tell who the abuser is and who the victim is.
Black Bear was seen during the 2020 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival. Thank you to the festival for the press pass. Black Bear currently has no distribution deal.
