Watch Maya Dardel

Maya Dardel is a 2017 drama film directed by Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak, which stars Lena Olin, Lois Drabkin, and Chris Voss. The film follows the story of an aging writer, Maya Dardel, who announces on a radio show that she intends to commit suicide and invites male writers to compete to become the executor of her literary estate.

The movie starts with the titular character, Maya Dardel, played by Lena Olin, making an announcement that she's looking for a young male author to become her heir. The chosen author will receive the rights to her works, as well as her Manhattan apartment, on the condition that they impregnate her. The men who respond to Maya's call for entries are required to craft passages to her liking in order to be considered.

As each indicated author shows up at her rural California estate to discover that they're not alone, and that the competition involves sexual intimacy with the high-strung Maya. The character of Maya is a witty, silver-haired woman in her sixties, who is still basking in her literary glory. The men, on the other hand, are a mixture of fools and bores, displaying a range of personal and professional motives for agreeing to Maya's invitation.

As Maya acts out her game, the film reveals her life's history through flashbacks, including bits from a previous love affair and a relationship with a male poet who appeared to collect and record her every word. Left alone in her forties, she has accumulated a considerable body of work and a cabinet full of prestigious prizes, but feels empty and purposeless. The stunt she pulls, therefore, is more than a mere exercise in power, but a desperate, final attempt to redeem herself in her own eyes.

Maya Dardel is a slow-burn film, with the movie's structure taking on the form of an extended narrative. The film is shot in a dimly lit room, with a deliberate and careful composition, creating an atmosphere of intimacy and warmth. The scenes are punctuated by Maya's acerbic wit, which is both humorous and caustic. The closest comparison to the literary feel of the film would be to the works of the late Nora Ephron.

The acting in Maya Dardel is fantastic. Lena Olin, in particular, delivers a masterful performance as the main character. Olin remains perfectly in control, imbuing Maya with life, from her wilful confidence to the stark sadness underlying it all, conveying that beneath the surface, Maya is a complex and broken person, much like the rest of us.

Maya Dardel is a provocative and challenging movie, one that is not easy to engage with or understand. The central theme of the movie is the power of words and the complexities of relationships, as well as the fundamental problem of the creative process, which is often forged on the backs of dead relationships.

In conclusion, Maya Dardel is a beautifully crafted and thoughtful movie with an engrossing storyline and excellent character development. It’s a movie that must be appreciated by the measured pace and the stunning acting abilities of the cast. Lena Olin is at the peak of her craft in this film, and her interplay with the rest of the cast is outstanding. With Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak’s direction, Maya Dardel explores the complexities of life and leaves us with a thought-provoking story about the power of words, the complexity of relationships, and the creative process.

Maya Dardel is a 2017 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 44 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.2 and a MetaScore of 53.