MOLLI AND MAX IN THE FUTURE
(director/writer: Michael Lukk Litwak; cinematographer: Zach Stoltzfus; editor: Joanna Naugle; music: Alex Winkler; cast: Zosia Mamet (Molli), Aristotle Athari (Max), Arturo Castro (Waiter), Erin Darke (MAR14), Paloma Garcia-Lee (Cassie), Okieriete Onaodowan (Moebius), Grace Kuhlenschmidt (Triangulon), Michael Chernus (Turboschmuck), Aparna Nancherla (Rachel), Matteo Lane (Bryan Oceancolgate); Runtime: 93; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Michael Lukk Litwak, Ben J. Murphy, Candice Kuwahara, Mallory Schwartz, Kate Geller; Level 33 Entertainment; 2023)
“A fun pic with great acting by the stars.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A rare blend of rom-com/sci-fi from the absurdist writer-director Michael Lukk Litwak (“The Life and Death of Tommy Chaos and Stacey Danger”). He films the low-budget indie as a smart modern-day riff on “When Harry Met Sally” (1989), and transfers it into a goofy spacey-relationship comedy. The gimmicky space set-up doesn’t always work but when it does, it seems outrageous enough to please its target audience “midnight” crowd–turning it into a cult film.
Before realizing they’re ideally suited for each other, Molli (Zosia Mamet) and Max (Aristotle Athari, a former Saturday Night Live player), a misfit couple, who met on the cute in a space ship mishap, are chilly in their long-time relationship.
After their crash meeting, Molli gives Max a ride into the city. They form an uneasy, bickering relationship that over the years and long separations grows less hostile. They’re urban folks living in a decaying city and roaming around in a future of galactic inter-dimensional worlds.
The adventurous couple travel in ships (she flies and he’s on a ship–a genocide survivor who is half-fish).
They live in a magical world that oddly enough looks a lot like Manhattan. Their world is divisive, has a controversial election, a rise in right-wing politics, concerns over religion and serves up a plague (linked to a pandemic). The visuals are laden with CGI images
Molli gets most of the laughs with her rapid-fire delivery, while Max remains deadpan but is weirdly funny.
Erin Darke has a good turn doing 1930s screwball comedy bits. Michael Chernus apes Donald Trump (which is about as funny as that clown really is), and Matteo Lane plays an annoying TV personality/host (Are there any other kinds?).
It’s a fun pic with great acting by the stars, a witty script and inventive set design, whose snappy comedy is engaging. But I thought its aliens could have been a little more alien.
It played at the SXSW.
REVIEWED ON 1/26/2024 GRADE: B