People Say Zendaya Does Her Best Work Yet in ‘Malcolm & Marie’

Malcolm & Marie, the intimate new drama from Euphoria creator Sam Levinson starring Zendaya and John David Washington, just dropped on Netflix, and people are saying Zendaya’s performance is next-level. The film follows a director (Washington) and his girlfriend (Zendaya) as they return home from the premiere of his latest project and wait for reactions from critics. And people are buzzing about it. 

One scene in particular, after Zendaya’s character (Marie) has taken a bath and is using a knife to get, we guess, her point across, is making people sit up and pay attention. “ZENDAYA’S PERFORMANCE IN THIS SCENE IS INSANE! i’m in awe!” tweeted one fan. Added another, “Zendaya’s acting here!!! This scene broke me into a million pieces and I was scared tbh.” A third posted simply: “zendaya i’m otw to deliver your Oscar don’t worry.” In other words, “the knife scene in #MalcolmAndMarie just lets you know if it’s one thing Zendaya’s gon do it’s act. 10/10 will be watching again and again.” As we all suspected, “I just knew my baby Zendaya would body this role!”

With the movie being shot during the pandemic, Emmy-winner Zendaya did all her own hair and makeup work and was also a coproducer. She shared how much the project meant to her on Twitter a few hours ahead of its digital premiere.

“Normally I’m pretty self-critical and that leads me to be far too fearful to make things myself or trust myself enough to…even try. This is really my first time believing that maybe I could. This is my first time being a leading lady, but also my first time being this creatively involved in something, producing something, co-financing something, owning something and sharing it all with my crew,” she wrote. “On behalf of our little crew of 22, we hope you laugh (please laugh lol) and cry and hopefully enjoy this little thing we made with a whole lot of love.”

And laugh people did! Memes, obviously, abound.

In conclusion, your honor, Zendaya supremacy.