Movie Review: 'The Killing of Two Lovers' is a Stunning and Gorgeous Drama

The Killing of Two Lovers begins with a striking visual. We open on a pair of people sleeping peacefully. It’s a serene scene except for the soundtrack which sounds as if bad pipe were rumbling throughout the house but somehow not interrupting the sleeping couple. The scene culminates with the appearance of a gun and a draw backwards to reveal a man holding a gun, pointing at the couple in the bed.

The scene is perfectly shot, framed and paced. The reveal is breathtaking and the rumbling atonal soundtrack heightens the tension to almost unbearable degrees. The Killing of Two Lovers was written and directed by Robert Machoian in a truly masterful coming out feature. The direction of The Killing of Two Lovers is breathtaking, filled with crisp, bracing cinematography and paced and edited with precision. Such precision brought to bear on such an intimate story makes for a thrilling film.

The Killing of Two Lovers stars Clayne Crawford as David, the recently separated husband of Nikki (Sedipeh Moafi). Together, they have four children, three young boys and a teenage daughter who feels caught in the middle of the parental strife. David is not coping well with the separation from his family. Though he only lives several blocks away with his elderly father, he feels miles away from the life he knew and enjoyed.

David's stress is heightened by his intermittent work, he appears to work only odd jobs around this small town, and by the infantilizing qualities of living with his father again as an adult. Most troubling however, is that Nikki has begun dating again. Chris Coy plays Derek, the new man in Nikki’s life. Being that this is a small town, it’s hard for David not to know Derek and see him around, even as Derek appears to be oblivious of David and his relationship to Nikki.

The crux of the story of The Killing of Two Lovers is just how much David has come undone. How far has he wandered from the loving husband and father he so desperately desires to be? Why does he have a gun and what does he plan to do with it? How is his increasingly unstable mental state playing out in front of his children and Nikki? These are questions one might expect of a Hollywood thriller about a crazed stalker dad, but here, they are treated with respect and presented via artful and thoughtful direction.

The style of The Killing of Two Lovers is so incredible. The look of the film is crisp with deep focus and wide, expansive shots that underscore the emotional distance between the characters even as they appear to share proximity in the frame. A scene of David and his kids playing in a park demonstrates the distance between father and daughter by having David and his sons pinched into one side of the frame and his daughter closer to the center the remaining frame empty but for a crisp, fall look that feels chilly and is photographed in such a way it feels visceral, you feel the chill. As the scene unfolds, the camera slowly pushes in as the daughter comes closer but that other side of the frame remains remote and empty, waiting to be occupied by what happens next.

I could go on about the style and various scenes from The Killing of Two Lovers but you need to see it for yourself. It’s a remarkable film from a director known mostly for shorts and documentaries. Robert Machoian who had me enthralled from the opening scene to the very end of The Killing of Two Lovers. The film is also a tremendous showcase for star Clayne Crawford. While many know him from the television adaptation of Lethal Weapon, playing the glib, cocky, version of Mel Gibson’s Riggs, Crawford shows remarkable depth and range in The Killing of Two Lovers. Loneliness, emotional impotence, roiling frustration all contained inside of a huge, aching heart. Crawford may owe a lot to director Robert Machoian's use of setting and space but he is to be commended for trusting his director to take care of him as he does.

It’s an incredible performance, both shocking and empathetic. You can sense his wounded pride but also this deeply relatable feeling of betrayal and longing. Anyone who’s been through the end of a marriage or attempted to salvage a relationship on the rocks can relate to the agonizing details of the break up of David and Nikki and how frustrating it can be to understand that no one is wrong here, no one cheated or physically harmed the other. The frustrations of daily life and routine drove David and Nikki apart, the flaws of each driving the wedge. The gray areas of their break up and trying to be reasonable and kind to each other while feeling anger toward each other, The Killing of Two Lovers captures this brilliantly.

That barren, small town, foggy, mountains in the distance, a slight amount of fall snow. It feels like this could be anywhere, a lost place of lost people stinging from the loss of the life they thought they had. The place of The Killing of Two Lovers underscores the story perfectly, like a cold heart desperate for warmth, the warmth associated with family and small, tightly knit communities where everyone knows everyone's problems and stumble over their pleasantries and politeness. It's all there in the subtext, in the visual presentation, in the finely detailed supporting performances, even those that have less than a minute of screen time.

The setting of The Killing Two Lovers is as much a place as it is the state of David's mind. It's a place of familiarity and love rendered cold and barren by the loss of love and the distance from true comfort. This is a windy and wordy way of saying simply, I was deeply moved by The Killing of Two Lovers in every possible way. I adore this movie.

The Killing of Two Lovers will be in select theaters and available for on-Demand streaming rental on May 14th.