Scenes from a Marriage (2021) review
I have just discovered Scenes from a Marriage starring Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, the original from 1973 is a well known exploration of a marriage falling apart. This new version is a modern take and it’s… well, it’s raw.
I am a bit (ok a lot!) cynical about media so I always want to know how believable it is. But with Scenes from a Marriage, both personally and professionally I can attest to the gritty reality of what the protagonists Mira and Jonathan go through.
The series focuses on the subtle cracks, the unspoken resentments, the slow erosion of intimacy that can chip away at even the strongest bonds. It’s in the way a glance lingers a little too long, the way a seemingly innocent comment can sting, the way two people who once knew each other intimately can become strangers in their own home. Sound familiar?
What resonated most with me was the sheer ordinariness of the conflict. It’s not about grand betrayals; it’s about the accumulation of small hurts, the daily grind of life, the struggle to balance individual needs with the demands of a partnership. It’s about the constant negotiation of power, the unspoken compromises we make, and the quiet desperation to be seen and understood by the person we’ve chosen to share our lives with.
In 2018 my 12 year marriage to the lovely Nick Light ground to an almost total halt. If I marriage had been a car it was as though all the wheels fell off. We had been the best of friends and now we were bonifide enemies on hostile territory. To cut a long story short our marriage was saved through the interventions of our couples therapist who helped us see that we needed to rebuild our relationship from the ground up. Every agreement and habit needed to be remade.
For us marriage 1.0 failed but so far marriage 2.0 is still going!
So this series was hauntingly true to life for me. It is even now a reminder that communication, empathy, and a willingness to confront difficult truths are essential if we want to keep the wheels on the car.
Let me know what you think if you watch it.
I’d love to hear your reactions.
