Oh, to be a fly on the wall during the writing process that triggered Katiefourth director’s effort, ”Magical hour. ” Written along with his real spouse (and other filmmakers) Mark DUPLASSAselton has made it clear in press material that filmabout a lovingly about worried married couple (played by Aselton and Daveed Diggs) is not explicitly about her actual marriage. But that is too not Not about her and Duplass’s long -lasting relationship. Still, when you see where Aselton and Duplass’ scripts take their characters, the differentiation becomes easier to swallow, if not the more exciting.
No spoilers here, but is enough to say, it is exciting to wonder at what point in their chat Aselton and Duplass landed on the spine of history, one that also acts as a very big twist and an ambitious swing. And yes, this twist comes early in the film, a smart choice of its writers that allows Aselton to move forward and quickly to other dimensions. Eagle-Eyed audience is likely to discover that just Before Aselton reveals its little magic trick, but it does not dilute its power. OhIt is to Type of movie, maybe viewers think. Let’s see where it goes.
Where is it? Somewhat uneven, but refreshingly honest and much a return to the type of filmmaking that kicked Aselton’s own regulatory career, back in 2010 with “The Freebie”, another movie about the complications and intimations in marriage, this lead role of Aselton and an never-better dax shepard. During the intermediate years, Aselton has tried his hand on other genres: 2012’s “Black Rock” is a thriller on a remote island, while 2022’s “Mack & Rita” is a body change comedy With the iconic Diane Keaton.
Aselton’s intention to return to more personal filmmaking is also noted in the same press material, and “Magic Hour”, mostly in a single place in Joshua Tree, California and mainly focused on Aselton and Digg’s characters, it fits Bill, in general. But in other ways it is the biggest swing she has taken yet, and although it often means (seemingly) frightening interactions and (conscious) broad emotions, there is also a deep satisfaction to find at the core of honesty that inspired such risk -taking.
We first meet Aselton’s Erin and Digg’s Charlie through old home video: Erin tries to Cajole Charlie, forever life for heights, to ride on a paris wheel. Their interactions are sweet, inhabited, flirt and warm. In short: they are a nice couple. In the present, the duo has subsided to a friend’s (Brad Garrett) Chic Desert Retreat, seemingly to recover from any nebulle tragedy. Other old videos release us in a fertility struggle, and Erin certainly seems angry at Charlie for what happened. Aselton is not holding us for too long, and at the end of the film’s first act she has released, both as an artist (Erin is all Great feelings) and a filmmaker.
Early in her journey, my muscles that she and Charlie could just stay in the desert, “get weird”, do something new and “magic hour” as a whole sometimes take the idea and run with it, get tripled in doses, go wide with something astonishing regularity and essentially as messy as sadness yourself. Not every turn lands (Erin gets a massage that turns into something completely different, and questions about consent, seemingly unnoticed), but its unpredictability (as a sore interaction with a group of local tensile women, led by Shangela) feels much more function than the bug. Anything can happen to a broken heart.
It also just looks wonderful, thanks to cinematography from Sarah Welden, who never shimmer at the twilight from which it takes its title, but also finds heat in the mornings, late nights and cozy interiors. Most often it feels safe and welcoming, the exact type of space where someone would like to work out their biggest problems and turn down their worst tragedies. We could all stand for more of it.
Rating: B.
“Magic Hour” premiered at the SXSW festival 2025. It is currently seeking US distribution.
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