The indie drama “Magic Hour” (Greenwich Entertainment) was directed by Katie Aselton, who also co-wrote the screenplay (with husband Mark Duplass) and stars in the movie. Aselton plays Erin, who is married to Charlie (Daveed Diggs). Our first glimpses of the couple present a portrait of a playful pair, seemingly happily married, who are trying to conceive.
But something in the relationship has changed, which is why they have headed to Joshua Tree. The plan is to work out whatever the issue is in the home of “chosen family” member Marshall (Brad Garrett). Marshall, who is gay and is into all the woo-woo stuff that supposedly comes with living in the California desert, goes to stay with his lover Ricky (D.J. “Shangela” Pierce).
It’s not a spoiler to say that the thing that has changed between Erin and Charlie is that he died from a cerebral hemorrhage. Erin is up to her neck in grief, struggling to distinguish reality from imagination. Her fantasy life includes regular visits and conversations with Charlie. She has visions of him at Marshall’s house with her. He’s in the pool, he joins her on a hike, and he reads a book with her curled up next to him.
Meanwhile, the external world keeps intruding. Ricky, on the way to do a drag show, stops by the house to pick up something he forgot. Three of Ricky’s drag queen friends – Divina (Lushious Massacr aka Martin DeLuna Jr), Jo (Jo Lopez), and Sabryna (Sabryna Williams) – are with him. When they see Erin’s condition, they decide to stay, transform her into a drag queen, and shower her with drag queen wisdom. This is, by far, the best sequence in the movie.
Marshall sends his masseuse (Leonora Pitts) to the house to help Erin. Ricky and Marshall convince Erin to join them for an ATV ride in the desert, which ends badly with Erin getting banged up. Additionally, Erin’s insensitive mother, Diane (Susan Sullivan), pays her a surprise visit, and while the bumps and bruises aren’t visible, it’s safe to say that Erin gets hurt, nevertheless.
Another visit from Marshall, in which he talks about coming out in the 1980s, as well as his sobriety journey, ends with him telling Erin that she can’t continue to slip away. Somehow, that does the trick, and she realizes she has a choice to make.
Regardless of its mostly exterior setting, “Magic Hour” feels stagey, as if it began as a play. The above-mentioned Mark Duplass (Aselton’s husband) did a better job with his screenplay for 2021’s “Language Lessons,” a powerful examination of grief co-starring and directed by queer actor Natalie Morales.
Rating: C
