BLACK BEAR

How great to come across a film which combines a few simple elements in a fresh and original way.

We start off by seeing a young woman Allison (played by Aubrey Plaza) sitting by a lake.  We then see her go into a large cabin, and sit at a desk with a notepad in front of her.

We then move to "Part One: The Bear In The Road" which begins with Allison arriving at the same country retreat, as a guest of a married couple, Gabe and Blair (who is pregnant). 

It soon becomes clear that all is not well in their marriage and as the evening progresses things escalate, to the point where Gabe and Alison become intimate.  When Blair discovers them, Gabe pushes her to the floor, causing her some internal injury.  In a panic Alison starts driving them to the nearest hospital but crashes the car trying to avoid a (surprise!) black bear in the road.

The screen then goes to black and we are on to "Part Two: The Bear by the Boat House".  We are back with Allison sitting by the lakeside.  Again she starts to walk to the cabin but this time it is revealed that she is an actress with a film crew present.

The scene to be shot seems similar to that we saw in Part One, except now Gabe is the director, and Allison and Blair have switched roles.  Gabe and Allison are married, but Gabe is flaunting his attraction to Blair in order (he tells Blair) to extract a better performance from Allison.  He takes this too far and Allison has a complete meltdown in the scene.  There's some more stuff between the three principals before the obligatory black bear appears again. 

Finally we return to the opening scene of the film but this time Allison writes 'Black Bear' on the notepad before looking at the viewer.

What does it all mean?  What is the significance of the bear?

Who knows?  My interpretation only goes as far as to think that Parts One and Two are simply ideas Allison is having for a future film (in Part One she plays a film director).

Anyhow Plaza gives a great performance throughout, especially in the breakdown scene.  Part Two in particular is very entertaining, incorporating as it does some farcical elements as to the film-making process.