Vague Visages’ Molli and Max in the Future review contains minor spoilers. Michael Lukk Litwak’s 2023 movie features Zosia Mamet, Aristotle Athari and Erin Darke. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews, along with cast/character summaries, streaming guides and complete soundtrack song listings.

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A creatively ambitious film, Michael Lukk Litwak’s Molli and Max in the Future toes the line of formulaic romantic comedy storytelling. The movie oozes with imagination and cinematic homages during the front end, but ultimately falls victim to millennial-style musings about existential dread a la “everything is bad, but love is good.” Despite the hollow philosophizing, Molli and Max in the Future offers a surrealistic blend of popcorn entertainment and classic Hollywood appeal.

Molli and Max in the Future’s primary selling point is the impressive production design; a colorful combination of rear-projection and virtual stages (which hopefully won’t be overlooked by audiences in general). Set one billion years into the future, the 93-minute labor of love flick explores the relationship between a female human searching for self-love (Zosia Mamet as Molli) and a half-human/half-fish gentleman looking for his place in the universe (Aristotle Athari as Max). Litwak, the lone screenwriter, structures his feature directorial debut around eight acts, with the first four establishing the protagonists’ chemistry — as they connect and then separate over the course of several (galactic standard) years — and the last group focusing on familiar concepts about trying to survive a scary world.

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Fans of the excellent podcast The Watch might recall a recent conversation between hosts Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald about the new Amazon series Mr. & Mrs. Smith and its ability to entertain through the suspension of disbelief. Molli and Max in the Future, with all its superb world-building and production design, similarly asks the audience to just sit back and enjoy the viewing experience. In that sense, the film is indeed a success, primarily due to its attention to detail, the heart-felt messaging and certainly the comedic performances from Mamet (an HBO’s Girls alum and the daughter of playwright David Mamet ) and Aristotle (a former Saturday Night Live cast member). Plus, the sketch comedy aspect of various segments allows for laugh-out-loud moments from Erin Darke as a robot called MAR14 and Arturo Castro as Molli’s secondary love interest, Walter. Unfortunately, though, Molli and Max in the Future loses momentum as Litwak shifts away from the film’s heart and soul — the chemistry between the two leads — in favor of several philosophically light chapters that comedically align with those throwaway (yet sometimes weirdly wonderful) skits at the end of each Saturday Night Live episode.

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Like many labor of love productions, Molli and Max in the Future loses its way through formulaic storytelling. In this unique rom-com, there’s the first act meet-cute, the middle act separation and the protagonists’ third act personal epiphanies while reuniting. Litwak’s cultural commentaries will certainly resonate with the 18 to 45 demographic, but there’s not much to chew on beyond the “life is so complex and overwhelming” premise of each bit. By the 52-minute mark, Molli and Max in the Future shifts away from classical romanticism, seemingly because that’s what the romantic comedy playbook calls for, rather than building upon the sexual tension between the two main protagonists. And so when the inevitable grand gesture arrives, it doesn’t necessarily feel genuine or believable — it’s just a thing that’s plugged in between thin commentaries about pop culture and quantum physics.

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Molli and Max in the Future has its finger on the pulse of modern pop culture. But like many young consumers struggling to find their way, the film relies on light surrealism and snark to punctuate its messaging about the human experience. And this approach unfortunately distracts from the overall artistry within the production design and performances. Still, Molli and Max in the Future is undoubtedly a re-watchable film given all the little details within the mise-en-scène and character dialogue. Does it necessarily matter that Litwak doesn’t provide any solutions to existential worries beyond his core messages about self-love and self-worth? No, probably not. But it’s always a bummer when “labor of love” films lose narrative focus, or rather narrative momentum, while prioritizing the inherent passion and creativity that fueled the production itself.

Molli and Max in the Future released theatrically on February 9, 2024 via Level 33 Entertainment.

Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.

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