Maria (2024)

Larrain has made a number of very beautiful, but often very taciturn films about divas. His latest, about quite literally a diva, felt similar for me. It is lush and quite gorgeous to watch. But I felt so removed from its subject I found it hard to get swept up in its story. Jolie's performance is aloof and somewhat sparse as well although there are moments in it which touched me. I came out of Maria a bit unmoved despite how lovely a film it was. 

Larrain focuses his story on the last week of the singer's life as she interacts with doctors, staff, and a film crew. She flashes back to the moments that brought her here. She is living an almost Howard Husian life alone in her palace, barking at fans and servers who dare speak to her. She is sad and alone. It is meant to be a tragic tale of a woman who lived on her own terms. Some of this comes through but a lot of it, through Larrain's story telling and Jolie's performance just feels like we're watching someone be not very pleasant. 

There are moments that broke through for me. Jolie does wonderful things with small moments when she's doing less of an impression and more inhabiting the character. Her reaction to her doctor's dire diagnosis is a beautiful piece of acting for example. The film takes a loving approach, filling each scene with exquisite beauty and a bit of fantasy. She begins to wonder what is real and what is hallucination and this is handled quite well by Lorrain. Maria the film is something to see even if it doesn't evoke much emotionally.

Maria

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Kodi Smit-McPhee

Director: Pablo Larrain

Writer: Stephen Knight