I walked into Molli and Max in the Future with no expectations at all, knowing nothing about it, and after an hour and a half, I had experienced one of the funniest and most fresh films in recent memory. Every era has its comedy classics. From His Girl Friday (1940) to Some Like it Hot (1959), Monty Python (the 1970s) to Airplane (1980), there have been a few films throughout cinema’s lifetime that defined the genre of comedy. I would be very disappointed if this film didn’t become a classic of our generation because it feels very emblematic of everything that is Gen Z. Molli and Max in the Future feels like TikTok comedy turned into a film, and the result is something very special.
The film is set in a distant unspecified future that is radically different from ours, as humanity has stopped being the only known species in the universe, and creatures from different civilizations and galaxies co-exist. They compete in sporting events, and people spend half their time in real life and the other in cyberspace. Molli and Max are two people who constantly find each other throughout the years and galaxies as their relationship shifts and matures on their journey to find themselves, meaning, and love.
Shot with CGI, this effect gives the film a refreshing amateurish feel, unlike the CGI of big-budget productions: this ultimately ends up adding to the feeling that the whole film is a passion project. The settings are different, and each of them is bustling with life and little humorous things that give you a little chuckle every time you notice them. The film’s animation style is reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a movie that also resembles it in its comedy to a certain degree.
Molli and Max in the Future often feel like a sci-fi parody of a neo-noir romance, with its smooth jazz score and sequences that look like Blade Runner. But it has so much more to offer. In its humorous stories and funny puns are explorations of what the young go through today as they collectively search for the same things in a fast-changing and overwhelming world.
As Molli and Max go through different phases of their lives, different occupations, and different partners, they are learning more about themselves and each other, and consequently, about their relationship too. But they are never quite sure of what they’re learning. They’re in a perpetual state of confusion, something many people, myself included, will be able to identify with.
Molli and Max in the Future is the debut of Michael Lukk Litwak, Brooklyn-based filmmaker and cartoonist. Despite its absurd and futuristic setting, this film is delightful, fresh, and very relatable. I walked into it knowing nothing and expecting nothing, and I was pleasantly surprised in every way. Its comedy is very modern and could fly above some people’s heads, but if one keeps an open mind, they will be rewarded with one of the best comedy movies to have come out in the last few years.
Molli and Max in the Future was screened at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival
Molli and Max in the Future (2023) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
Mollie and Max in the Future (2023) Movie Cast: Zosia Mamet, Aristotle Athari, Erin Darke
