When I first saw the thumbnail of The Marriage Story pop up on Netflix, I was skeptical. I expected another relationship drama that bent toward a happy ending where the two fighting lovers realizes that they actually DO love each other and then a mediocre sense of this story sucked kicks in —-not the case with the Marriage Story.

Spoiler Alert - stop here! Go watch the movie!

Nicole Barber (Scarlet Johansson) + Charlie Barber (Adam Driver) are an awesome power couple who each have strength and talents to be admired. And that is EXACTLY what makes their break up hard to swallow and what the writer and director Noah Baumbach sets up and sticks the viewer with in the end. We start feeling more for Nicole in the story set up and then an empathetic emotional switch to Charlie. This clever balancing act is a lesson within itself for those who want to pick a side, take a feminist stance, read into a modern interpretation, blame the Other for the failure of a relationship or some other uninteresting normal story structure. There is a moral psychology that floats over this narrative —no one person is to blame for a relationship involving two people and the structure of the film forces you to look long into each person’s perspective.

When I wanted to take the side of the Nicole and hate Charlie, I was shown —”ah not so fast!” but as we start to see the sensitivity within the male and the aggressive within the female we see this balance of the sexes. I titled this post, captivated by Adam Driver’s performance because at this point in the film I was knocked back by the emotional switch in this film. This clip for me summarizes this concept.

For me the Marriage Story has narrative genius. I highly recommend to give this film viewing consideration but maybe.. do not watch this film if you just went through a break up.