Matt and Mara

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Matt and Mara

2024

1h 20m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

87%

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30 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

When Mara (Deragh Campbell), a young creative writing professor, reunites with Matt (Matt Johnson), a charismatic, free-spirited author from her past, a chance encounter threatens to spin her life in a thrilling new direction. Bonded by their history and shared interests, the two grow closer, while Mara contends with her strained marriage to an experimental musician. When her husband unexpectedly cancels plans to drive Mara to a conference out of town, Matt accompanies her instead and the pressure in their undefined relationship slowly builds.

Critics Consensus

Finely observed and emotionally vibrant, Matt and Mara finds quiet tension and unexpected urgency in the unresolved pull between friendship, desire, and creative ambition.

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Jason Anderson

Sight & Sound

Nov 6

Even at a briskly paced 80 minutes, Matt and Mara manages to be remarkably astute about its central relationship’s cocktail of suppressed desire and professional envy.

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Guy Lodge

Variety

12/31/2024

Radwanski’s script is low on incident -- and the film, at a tight, jittery 80 minutes, can afford to be -- but this tension keeps it taut and urgent, in the manner of particularly gripping people-watching.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

10/22/2024

2/5

This lo-fi Canadian dramedy feels like an excursion into nothing much, as a vague college friendship is rekindled.

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Cinemanía Staff

Cinemanía (Spain)

07/31/2025

3.5/5

A drama about emotional conflicts that moves without being cloying. [Full review in Spanish]

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Kathy Fennessy

Video Librarian Magazine

05/01/2025

3.5/5

Though some viewers might find the characters off-putting as they dance around their desires, anyone who’s ever been in—or witnessed—a similar situation is likely to be more forgiving. Plus, there are only so many films about male-female friendships.

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Alexa Margorian

Exclaim!

01/28/2025

8/10

A worse movie would lean into the romance, the forbiddenness of it all, but Matt and Mara isn't so vulgar.

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Dominique F

@RT59889608 02/16/2025

The film takes a brief, non-judgmental gaze at complications without attempting to break them down - a shallow look at intimacy. This is not a bad thing. In fact, the film is refreshingly easy to take in, while its strings of subtleties allow for emotional and intellectual engagement.

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Richard B

@RT04166895 02/04/2025

I found the dialogue to be so badly written that it was actually difficult to sit through. Characters who are supposed to be English Literature academics use the word like in like every like few like words until you like want to throw something like heavy at the like screen. Nothing really happens. I like films where nothing happens. I love films where nothing happens. Patterson, Perfect Days - brilliant films. But they are so well made. This is not. Basically this is a film in which nothing happens, badly!

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Kazik Radwanski

Director

Matt Johnson

Matt

Simon Reynolds

Father

Deragh Campbell

Mara

Alejandra Zapico

Front Desk Agent

Georgia Tannis

Professor Catherine Burke

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Synopsis

When Mara (Deragh Campbell), a young creative writing professor, reunites with Matt (Matt Johnson), a charismatic, free-spirited author from her past, a chance encounter threatens to spin her life in a thrilling new direction. Bonded by their history and shared interests, the two grow closer, while Mara contends with her strained marriage to an experimental musician. When her husband unexpectedly cancels plans to drive Mara to a conference out of town, Matt accompanies her instead and the pressure in their undefined relationship slowly builds.

Director: Kazik Radwanski
Producer: Dan Montgomery, Candice Napoleone, Daniel Montgomery
Screenwriter: Kazik Radwanski
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
Production Co: Medium Density Fibreboard Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 13, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 20m