We’re in Love… With Movies!
Featuring a Check in with Michael Lukk Litwak, Director of Molli and Max in the Future
What Do We Do About Romance in Film
By Heather Elaine Abbott
There’s been an ongoing discussion online about the legitimacy of the RomCom genre, whether or not it is dead, and if it deserves to be reborn. I, like many people I know, have a complicated affection for these films. I grew up on a steady diet of grand romantic gestures, third act speeches, and romantic heroes racing to their beloved when they finally realize their feelings. All of the lies & scheming was always worth it to garner the requisite happy ending. (Was I a bet?!) As much as I still adore many of these films, my relationship to them has shifted seismically as I have gone from a lovesick preteen to an adult who has actually experienced the joys and heartbreaks that are inherent to (most) romantic journeys.
In my early twenties, I experienced a whirlwind, RomCom-worthy relationship that escalated at a breakneck pace. I was young and hopeful and truly believed that ‘when you know, you know’. What exactly did I know though? Very little! Together, we raced through the early dating stages, skipping over that vital era that would have allowed us to learn about our long-term compatibility (or lack thereof). I was eager to get to the happily ever after and roll the credits! It was fated; it was right. It ended in utter disaster 3 ½ years later. While it is unfair to blame my poor decision-making entirely on a film genre, I do believe that my worldview and expectations for love were influenced by many of the tropes that I grew up ingesting. And I was not alone in that feeling! The Jezebel essay phase of 2010’s feminism was filled to the brim with takedowns of the heteronormativity, misogyny, and traditional values that RomComs espouse.
I recently watched a really great video essay by Mina Lee where she took on this discussion about RomComs and explored how the genre has evolved over time. After watching her video, I was left with the opinion that the films of the ‘golden RomCom era’ were successful because they were fantasies of wish fulfillment where the heroine could really have it all - romance on her terms (while still reflecting the regressive values of the time). But those fantasies ring hollow when you try to bring them into our world today. More recent RomComs are reckoning with dramatic societal changes in how we search for a partner - dating apps, social media, and the constant interconnectedness that cell phones allow. Hell, most people I know met their partner through a dating app. Our culture has also evolved exponentially in its views on sexuality and gender that are simply not reflected in these classics. The overdue calls for greater diversity in the stories that Hollywood tells has made the ultra-whiteness of the genre even more apparent. Even when you revisit many of these films with your ‘this was a different time’ goggles, it is hard not to cringe!
So why do I still rewatch When Harry Met Sally every year and find myself tearing up when Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal kiss on New Years?
Well, for one, I’m a sap! It is an intoxicating idea that the person you long for will eventually come around and profess their love with pomp and circumstance. There’s something inherently human about love stories and the fantasy sold by the RomCom genre is alluring. I have a deep fondness for so many of these films in spite of the messages that they send about love, sex, and dating. So when I do return to them, it is for the nostalgia, the charm, and the great outfits.
But are we in need of a RomCom Renaissance? No! At least, not if the goal is to create films that fall in line with the regressive views on romance, gender, sexuality, race, consumerism, and monogamy that are a staple of RomComs past. Stories about love are eternally explorable and there is a deep well of comedic potential in vulnerability. Blending romantic stories with comedic set pieces is as natural as pairing chocolate and peanut butter. The issue isn’t in the concept; it’s in the execution. We don’t need to make romcoms great again (I am so sorry for the reference). Instead, the genre needs to take a step into the future.
Speaking of the future, we checked in with Michael Lukk Litwak about his debut feature, Molli and Max in the Future. The film premiered at SXSW in 2023 and was distributed in theatres on February 9, 2024.
Q: It’s been a year since Molli and Max came out in theaters and you’ve been such a fierce champion for it, consistently promoting it online, etc. What has it been like promoting your passion project for the past year and did you experience any difficulty finding the confidence to promote yourself?
Michael: Promotion is always such a weird aspect of being an artist. In a perfect world I'd just make something and it'd automatically find an audience and I wouldn't have to spend a ton of energy waving my digital arms to get everyone's attention online but alas, that isn't the way the world works and as an independent creator that all falls on you. While it was an enormous amount of work, I did get to control basically every element of the promotion and I was really happy that it was representative of the film and the world that I spent so much time making. I cut our trailer, I cut all our behind-the-scenes videos, I got to hire the poster artist and approve the blu-ray design. I've had friends who go through hell getting their movies made, they turn out great, and then some distributor slaps a terribly designed poster on it and everyone who sees it instantly judges it as a bad movie. The reason I'm behind the camera and not really in front of it is because I don't particularly enjoy having to perform but it's a necessary part of the process so I've just learned to lean into it over time!
Q: A year later, what does it feel like having your first feature out in the world? Is there anything that surprised you?
Michael: It's really nice! I spent a decade trying to make the jump from shorts and it was a long and windy road with a ton of starts and stops so I've just tried to remind myself to stay grateful and appreciate the good fortune I've had. In terms of surprises: Before the movie was easily accessible on Amazon Prime, we used a private screener service where it would give us pretty specific data about who watched the links that we sent out. My representatives sent out links to the movie to a variety of film executives and what was kinda shocking was just how the vast majority of people who worked in development would actually watch ZERO minutes of the movie. Like they didn't start the movie and then decide they didn't like it... they never even opened the link. I never called anyone out and at first I was annoyed and disappointed about it but what I realized is that it didn't really matter because in the eyes of the people who didn't watch it, just having made a feature that did well at festivals and got great reviews qualified me for bigger job opportunities. But on the flipside it also made the meetings with the people who actually took the time to watch it that much better because I knew their compliments were real and that they weren't full of it!
Q: You wrote a film that takes heavy influence from a staple of the Rom Com lexicon, When Harry Met Sally. Since it is the love month, we have to ask- what is your relationship with the genre?
Michael: I've loved them for a long time and I always will! What's more important than the exploration of the role of love (all kinds) in our life!?
Q: Molli & Max has been recognized by Letterboxd for being one of the highest rated Sci Fi films of 2024. What does that recognition feel like?
Michael: It feels amazing! The couple of months leading up to the release and afterwards were filled with a bunch of promotion but then the dust settled and it can feel like your movie just ends up as one of a million titles on a bunch of streaming services. One of the most fun things has been to see that people are continuing to discover the movie and talk about it online or DM me and tell me that they really enjoyed it! When you release a movie in February it usually isn't top of mind for people who are writing their end-of-the-year lists in December so to get on a list that's just purely based on data from everyday viewers and to be a 300k movie surrounded by a bunch of 300m movies is pretty cool!
Q: Have you gotten to the point where you feel ready to tackle something new? When can we expect a new story by Michael Lukk Litwak?
Michael: Yes! My next movie is a sci-fi western heist film called MOON BANDITS and we have it set up at a great company who actually watched the 'Molli and Max' screener :) We'll hopefully be shooting it sometime this year but we'll see, I know better than to put a timeline on anything.
You can watch Molli And Max in the Future on Amazon Prime! You can follow Michael at @michaellitwak on Instagram and join his mailing list at michaellitwak.com to keep up with his career. You can also follow @molliandmax on Instagram and check out all of the wonderful behind the scenes content.
Listen to our interview with Michael Lukk Litwak and Joanna Naugle about Molli and Max in the Future!
In this episode, Zoey & Heather absolutely gush about their adoration for this delightful comedy with so much heart. As the Writer/Director/Producer on the film, Michael provides a delightful peek into the world of miniatures, visual effects, and grit that brought the film together. Returning to the show for her second time, Joanna offers eloquent insight into her approach to editing the film.
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
Listen on Spotify:
A Love Letter to Movie Theaters
By Zoey Danielson
I love the movies—I might even say I love going to the movies more than most people do. My earliest memories of the theater are with my dad; we went what felt like every weekend. The first movie I ever saw on the big screen was The Rugrats Movie, which left me quoting, “Hang on to your diapies, babies, we’re going in!” every time I climbed into the backseat of my Papa’s Chevy Tahoe. From there, it was a blur of Spider-Man swinging across New York, shivering outside in the cold with my mom to be first in line for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and sinking into my seat in absolute mortification as I watched Brüno—next to my dad, no less. (Yeah. That Brüno.) I drove over an hour just to see Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn, I participated in the perpetual panic about when I was going to go pee during Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, and I cried so hard during Me and Earl and the Dying Girl that I practically disappeared into my seat.
The movies have been my home. I grew up there.
I remember the time before recliner chairs, before Dune popcorn buckets, before Nicole Kidman made heartbreak feel good in a pantsuit. I remember the dimly lit theaters with greasy-butter-popcorn-coated hand railings and floors sticky with spilled soda, $5 student tickets and half-price Tuesdays, chairs that were less than comfortable, the necessity of getting both a chocolate and a fruity candy, counting the chairs to make sure I landed in the exact center of the row—the perfect seat, if you will. And I remember leaving the theater late at night, piling into the car, heading to Steak ’n Shake to dissect every scene, every line, every moment that moved us while cruising the backroads of my hometown.
I’m 28 now, and my love for the movie theater has evolved. Now, I get to share it with my girlfriend, my best friends, and my family. We’ve built our own NEW traditions—smuggling in snacks from home, the occasional edible to heighten the experience, taking group trips to see incredible sci-fi films like Molli and Max in the Future, and never stepping into a theater without a carefully crafted Coca-Cola Freestyle concoction. There are still post-movie debates, spontaneous outings to whatever must-see film is playing (yes, even Trolls Band Together), and the inevitable sticky floor. There’s laughter, there’s cheering for female and queer directors, and there’s the shared anticipation of sitting through the credits, waiting for that one last scene—the promise of another story, another world, another reason to come back.
And, of course, there’s that moment when the names of the incredible creatives who brought it all to life start rolling across the screen. Heather and I sit there, scribbling them down, hoping for the chance to one day talk with them—Costume Designers, Assistant Editors, Boom Operators—on Last to Leave, the podcast so close to our hearts. Because for us, movies aren’t just something we watch. They’re something we live in, something we carry with us long after the lights come up.
Life changes, theaters change, but that feeling—the magic of the movies—never does. I’ve sat in the dark, watching stories unfold, on some of my best days and some of my worst. No matter what, the theater has always been there—constant, familiar, a place where the world feels a little bigger and a little brighter. It’s home. It always will be.
Recommendations
What are we watching?
Heather: I can’t deny it. I am deep in the reality tv hole with the new seasons of Love is Blind, Traitors, and The Bachelor. Listen! Winter in Chicago is a bleak time and the siren song of reality television has me deep under its spell. Personally, I have gone through a lot of /growth/ and my life is fairly free of mess which is GREAT AND EVOLVED OF ME. But… sometimes your girl wants a little gossip and the chaotic characters on Netflix, Peacock, and ABC deliver. I’ve fallen a bit off of the Criterion Challenge thanks to an intense Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fixation, but my two most recent watches were phenomenal. A Woman Under the Influence and High & Low are truly masterpieces.
Zoey: I’m so with Heather on this one… My girlfriend and I are absolutely feasting on reality TV right now, and it is deliciously chaotic. We’ve got Love Is Blind, The Traitors, Below Deck, and Mob Wives all in the mix—pure, unhinged gold. And The White Lotus being back… Phenomenal. PROTECT BELINDA AT ALL COSTS.
I finally watched The Flight Attendant for the first time—what a wild ride. Cassie is the ultimate messy queen, and her jackets? Someone please tell me where she got that trench!
Also… it’s awards season, and I LOVE award season. We will officially be sharing all our Oscar night thoughts live on Instagram that night, so stay tuned for that chaos!
What are we reading?
Heather: I am supposed to be reading Anatomy of a Love Story by Dana Schwartz for my family book club, but in all honesty I have not been in my reading bag as of late!
Zoey: This one’s easy—I read Onyx Storm like every other fantasy girlie out there. Give me all the dragon lore, give me fun magic and give me all the Ridoc one-liners. I’m going to leave it there. Right now, I’m deep in the Artefacts of Ouranos series, and since I’m on book three, there’s no turning back—I have to know how this ends. Up next is Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, which I’m so ready to dive into. Last, I finally joined Fable, and I’m having fun tracking all my reads—my goal is 30 books this year!
What are we listening to?
Heather: February has been a trying month for my teeth and the two albums that got me through the lengthy stints in the dentist chair were Stop Making Sense by The Talking Heads and Bleachers - Live at Radio City Music Hall. Both albums are joyful and engaging and most importantly, loud! If you’ve got to white-knuckle it through an egregious amount of dental work, I highly recommend both of these live albums. (Also: shout out to Zoey for lending me her noise-canceling headphones; those helped me avoid a full-on panic attack! Five appointments in a month is too many, folks!)
Zoey: Lately, I’ve been revisiting some old playlists—something about the cold just brings out the nostalgia, I guess. A few songs I’ve had on repeat: Celebrate by Wild Go, Sodom, South Georgia from Our Endless Numbered Days, and Come Meh Way by Sudan Archives. And, of course, some Doechii, because why not. Also, I’m on a Sugar Water ban until Maude Latour’s concert next month, I cannot wait to see her live!
You guys are amazing! Wonderful podcasters and wonderful writers!! Both articles were fantastic reads! And thanks for recommendations!! ❤️
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