Spoiler alert: The following article has spoilers from Maria.
Angelina Jolie stars as Maria Callas, a famous opera singer in the 20th century, inMaria, andthe film features something (and someone) named Mandrax, which plays a significant role in the story.The 2024 Netflix biographical psychological drama movie, directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Steven Knight, follows Callas during the final days of her life. WhileMariamostly chronicles Callas' time in Paris in the days leading up to her tragic death, it also dives deep into the artist’s past and how she got to that point in her life in the City of Lights during the 1970s.
Mariais the final installment in Pablo Larraín’s trilogy chronicling influential women of the 20th century, following in the footsteps ofJackie(following former U.S. First Lady Jackie Kennedy) andSpencer(chronicling Princess Diana’s existential crisis during the Christmas of 1991).
Callas had a bit of a troubled life for various reasons. She didn’t have the most stable upbringing as her parents divorced when she was young, prompting Callas to move with her mother and sister to Greece, where their family was from. After she became famous, the press wasn’t too nice to Callas regarding her rumored bad temper. Callas' relationships were also the furthest things from fairytale romances, and she began losing her voice in the mid-to-late 1950s. As a result, Callas retreated from the public eye and lived the rest of her days in Paris,where her health quickly deteriorated, as illustrated inMaria’s ending.
Mandrax Is An Addictive Hypnotic Sedative Originally Prescribed As A Muscle Relaxer, Sedative & Sleep Aid
Maria Callas Takes Mandrax In The Netflix Movie
Maria Callas reportedly took numerous prescription (and nonprescription) pills throughout her life. As forAngelina Jolie’s character in the 2024 drama filmMaria,one of the drugs Callas takes is Mandrax, aka methaqualone,which is called Quaalude in the United States. Mandrax is described as a hypnotic sedative that was originally prescribed to patients to help them relax and sleep.
Angelina Jolie’s Popular New Netflix Biopic Is A Great Reminder To Watch Bradley Cooper’s $80M Movie Nominated For Best Picture Last Year
Jolie’s shocking performance in Maria resembles Cooper’s acclaimed movie, in which he embodied American orchestra conductor, Leonard Bernstein.
Callas takes Mandrax in the 2024 Netflix movie to deal with her pain.Unfortunately, she abuses the drug, which leads toCallas' butler, Ferruccio Mezzadri, hiding the pills from her inMaria. According toBBC, Mandrax was quite popular in the 1970s. However, the drug is highly addictive, dangerous if misused, and was often used for nefarious purposes, which is why it is no longer properly manufactured, as Mandrax is illegal in the present day.
Did Maria Callas Take Mandrax In Real Life?
It’s unclear whether Maria Callas took Mandrax in real life,as some sources conflict with one another. PerDecider, no official public record stating Callas took Mandrax exists. She was reportedly using cortisone and immunosuppressants to treat a degenerative disease, but there is seemingly nothing to confirm Mandrax was one of the drugsCallas abused in the true story of her life. On the other hand,Mariawriter Steven Knight toldUSA Todaythat Callas often misused drugs, including Mandrax. Knight explained:
“Remember, this is the ’50s and ’60s when there was less known about the consequences of that. [Callas] always had an issue with her weight, so she was prepared to take chemicals to deal with that … She started to use drugs like Mandrax in order to control the pain. Imagine being at the pinnacle (of your career) and suddenly no one’s listening?”
It’s very possible that Mandrax was one of the drugs Callas was taking towards the end of her life, as depicted inAngelina Jolie’s new Netflix drama that completes an eight-year movie trilogy. It was quite popular at the time, after all. However, given the conflicting reports,it’s hard to definitively state that Callas used Mandrax.Knight and director Pablo Larraín conducted a lot of research while developingMaria, though. So, they must have chosen Mandrax as Callas' drug of choice in the 2024 biopic for a reason.
The Journalist Mandrax Is A Hallucinatory Personification Of Maria Callas' Use Of The Drug
Kodi Smit-McPhee Plays Mandrax
Mariadirector Pablo Larraín pushes Mandrax to the front and center of the plot,both symbolically and physically. InAngelina Jolie’s Golden Globe-nominated biopic, Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Mandrax, a documentary filmmaker who chooses Callas to be the subject of his next movie. He follows her around Paris with a camera crew, asking the opera singer questions about her life. However, the man is not truly there — he is simply a figment of Callas' imagination.
Aggelina Papadopoulou
Young Maria Callas
One of Mandrax’s (the drug) side effects is hallucinations,which is what Callas experiences in Netflix’sMaria. Callas hallucinates Mandrax (the documentary filmmaker), which is hinted at when the movie shows Ferruccio and Bruna’s (her butler and maid) puzzled reactions to Callas speaking with Mandrax.Smit-McPhee’sMariacharacteris just a hallucinatory personification of the dangerous drug, which is why his name is Mandrax.
Maria
Cast
Maria(2024) is a biographical drama about opera singer Maria Callas, directed by Pablo Larraín, starring Angelina Jolie. It concludes Larraín’s trilogy on iconic women.
