Plaza is wonderful in the role of Alison, going from slithery, diffident cool girl in the first vignette to howlingly paranoid wronged wife in the second.

Even if you spot the final twist coming a mile off, there are a few mysteries left to ponder -- and on the other hand, there can be little doubt that Plaza's performance is a tour de force.

Aubrey Plaza is an unpredictable powerhouse in writer-director Lawrence Michael Levine's two-part negotiation of the untrustworthy power dynamics of a filmmaking couple.

Black Bear does, after all, stink of men writing women as cute dolls to be played with. It’s the sardonic, versatile Plaza performance that saves Levine’s Black Bear.