How the strangest sci-fi movie of 2024 took its place in Star Wars

A classic romantic comedy set in an environment of modern technology, Molli and Max in the future is a singular achievement in the independent science fiction genre. The feature/directorial debut of Brooklyn native Michael Lukk Litwak brings his fully imagined future across 4 different planets to the screen with colorfully implausible visuals and a surprisingly analog approach.

Molli (Zosia Mamet) is traveling in her personal spaceship when she literally bumps into Max (Aristotle Athari); the film betrays its tone instantly when Molli first asks Max what his insurance company is. The clever, sharp banter that follows makes it clear that they’re made for one another, but in the time-honored tradition of rom-com lore, it would take over a decade and the rest of the film’s runtime for Molli and Max to figure it out outwardly. They are separated by several years. She becomes part of a wierd quasi-religious cult overseen by a floating tentacled head, while he becomes a master “super-mecha warrior”. But all the while, they find their way back to one another, and the trappings of science fiction provide an endlessly inventive backdrop to the query of “will they or won’t they?” between your heroes.

“If I shot this movie with 100% realistic CGI, I do not think it could necessarily work.”

It’s no surprise that Litwak cites dual inspirations for his first foray into the world of feature movies. “I grew up watching big budget action movies/spectacles like star Wars AND Indiana Jones AND Jurassic Park– he says Reciprocal“, “and that’s what made me start making films. Then as I got older I started gravitating more towards character based things like When Harry met Sally, Annie Hala, AND Amelia. Films about people struggling with real problems, living in large metropolises and complaining about their therapists.

It was the process of making several short films that made Litwak realize that “I wanted to tell stories similar to what got me into filmmaking, but at the same time faithful to what keeps me here.”

These shorts, including award-winning ones The Life and Death of Tommy Chaos and Stacey Dangerit gave him the chance to experiment with techniques that brought him full bloom Molli and Max.

“Some of them included VFX elements, so I had to test my approach to effects and learned about compositing,” Litwak says. “I had enough experience to know what I used to be moving into, but I still needed to learn lots of skills while making it Molli and Max“

“Star Wars it’s a perfect example of a universe you can live in, and that’s what I wanted.”

These skills avoid the reliance on CGI that has now become the norm in even the smallest genre productions, instead combining old-fashioned methods that give Molli and Max in the future a visual personality as distinctive as the personalities of the two main characters. He and Stoltzfus spent 18 months building a wide range of miniatures, researching 3D printing and other processes on YouTube to help create them, then photographing and composing them to create the background tiles. They could then spend a week on the LED stage filming the actors in front of these plates, and then spend another three weeks on the traditional stage using classic rear screen projection. This kind of analog craftsmanship, also seen in many of the on-screen props (it’s nice to know that VCRs will still be in use for many years to come), harkens back to films from the ’70s and ’80s like the original star Wars.

“There was a reality that we would never be able to afford to hire amazing digital effects people when it seemed like it would be possible to build these things ourselves,” he notes. “But if I made this movie with 100% realistic CGI, I don’t think it would necessarily work. If you look at the technology in star Wars, seems very analog. It’s much warmer and friendlier, and you can understand how the machine works much better when you turn a knob rather than when you just touch the touchscreen. star Wars it’s a perfect example of a universe you can live in, and that’s what I wanted. It’s a world that’s dirty and covered in dust, that’s not entirely smooth and fancy, because that’s life. Everything breaks and nothing ever works the way you think it will.

“It was very nice to give you the option to construct the world after which return and rewrite it after we stumbled upon a funny detail.”

There is one vital difference between star Wars AND Molli and Maxalthough: “The best fantasy star Wars ever communicated, there’s a world without capitalism.” While creating small-scale cityscapes, he realized that his futuristic cities needed advertising signage and digital billboards, and making this decision is an example of how Molli and MaxParallel technical and script development fueled each other.

“I thought to myself, well, what is the Coca-Cola of this world? And that was Glorp Soda,” Litwak explains, referring to the drink Max serves as his fame grows. “That was reflected in the script, where I knew I wanted Max to sell out and become a corporate fraudster. Which meant that Molli and Max should first talk about not wanting to drink Glorp Soda. It was really nice to be able to build the world and then go back and rewrite it when we stumbled upon a funny detail. Part of what I love about science fiction is the ability to drop those little Easter eggs and setups and payoffs throughout the scenario and create a rich, detailed world that has depth. And having these ads and brands there, which was obviously a big part of it Blade Runner it also makes it seem more believable.”

There’s another immersive sci-fi that Litwak cites as influencing his overall MO: “I really like sci-fi universes like the one in Fifth Element. And you already know, Moebius [aka Jean Giraud] it is a French graphic designer I worked on that I really like Fifth Elementand due to this fact the cult leader in Molli and Max his name is Moebius. I really like too Futurama AND Rick and Morty and these worlds where anything can occur. There are certain types of science fiction where one thing is different and then you definately explain it.

“But for Molli and MaxI wanted to create a universe where everything is possible,” Litwak sums up.