The pipeline from cinematographer to director isn’t as seamless as other movie paths. That’s because the person that makes the movie look beautiful does NOT usually know how to nuance a script and make a story pop, living or dying by the source material. I like Rachel Morrison, cinematographer, a lot, and I don’t want her to fall by the wayside. So even though they are streamers, The Fire Inside and now Love of Your Life shows she’s at least got a knack for finding a good writer to use her amazing eye in service of, as well as a great eye for her movie leads to make her films a notch above standard streaming drivel.
Maya (Margaret Qualley) is living a stable, but lonely life in Boston, working as a nurse in the ER. She buys a table off of Facebook marketplace from Charlie (Gabriel Basso), who’s instantly smitten with her (I mean, come on, it’s Margaret Qualley), and asks her out. The two become fast soul mates, as we see their love grow, including Maya learning from Charlie’s mom (Catherine Keener) that she’s the first girl he’s brought back. She’s in her happily ever after…but it turns out ever after for Maya and Charlie is only about 3 years, devastatingly.
Love of Your Life is a 3 in 1 movie, with the romance, the fallout, and the rebuild. Each section finds a wonderful collaboration between writer, director, and actor. The romance is lovely through its specificity between Maya and Charlie, and the simple day in and day out of their lives, including Charlie’s mom and Maya’s best friend Jason (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and their assortment of Boston/Cape Cod friends. We get the big picture bullet points of their relationship while also feeling the connection between them, while Morrison the director shoots New England in beautiful sunsets and intimate candlelight. The tragedy earns its heartbreak because of the care taken during this first section. The fallout shifts locations and characters and time, letting the new actor pairings work out some new chemistry while Morrison has fun with the Lisbon setting, making this section feel out of time as our leads have to recover. Because these two sections take their time, the rebuild is a tad rushed and tacked on, but again, through the clever writing and character driven focus, gives director Morrison yet another new location and situation to make look as beautiful as possible.
The key actor here is Margaret Qualley. The talented actress has never been asked to do this before, carrying a film on her own through all sorts of story arcs and journeys. She rises to the occasion; each version of Maya is indebted to the previous one, while also trying to find a new path whenever the setting changes, internally quarreling over moving forward vs wallowing in her depression, lamenting the end of the love of her life. Outside of the nuanced character arc she presents, Qualley has to also establish chemistry with 2 leading men, Gabriel Basso and Aaron Pierre along that arc. She does so pretty effortlessly, letting the connection form deliberately between both guys. Pierre kills it again, doing twice the work in half the time of Gabriel Basso; Basso is no slouch either: he is asked to elevate his status as well since we have to care about him and Margaret Qualley for Love of Your Life to work, and we very much do care (I had a couple tears forming for sure).
Consider Love of Your Life a test passed with flying colors for all the artists involved. I hope this leads to more diverse interesting work from Margaret Qualley, Gabriel Basso, Aaron Pierre, Julia Cox, and Rachel Morrison. Rebel Ridge 2 anybody? Or is that too much like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? You’re right, let’s just go with The Substance 2, where Andie McDowell can play new Elizabeth and we get mom and daughter onscreen together.