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What is the best thing to watch on Netflix while in quarantine?
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Watch Marriage Story in quarantine

Is being trapped inside with your spouse slowly tearing the two of you apart? Marriage Story might be eerily prescient of your post-isolation life.

Context

Marriage Story owes its success to its all-too-relatable family themes, conveyed with heart-wrenching performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. Released on Netflix in 2019, the film has been nominated for many awards, from the Golden Globes to the Academy Awards to the BAFTAs.

The Argument

If you’ve ever been in a complicated relationship, you’ll understand that love and hate aren’t always mutually exclusive. Rather, it’s often the person you love the most who knows how to make you miserable. Marriage Story explores this well-known dynamic in a uniquely moving way. To do so, it examines the deteriorating marriage of Charlie and Nicole Barber, a director and actress, respectively. As the two uncover more and more cracks in their relationship, they seek a divorce while living on opposite sides of the country-an exhausting process not only for them but also for their young son, Henry. Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, Marriage Story walks the viewer across the thin line separating love from hate. Powerful acting and character development make the story believable, but perhaps more importantly, the relatable subject matter draws the audience in. From shady lawyers to screaming fights to the pain of falling out of love, Marriage Story gets divorce right, exploring its emotional toll on Charlie, Nicole, and Henry alike. Even if you’ve never had a personal experience with divorce, this film remains poignant-especially as you and your partner are stuck inside, driving each other crazy. Just keep your hands off the drywall.

Counter arguments

This movie can and will make you cry. When you're stuck in the house, and your emotions are already out of whack thanks to quarantine, a Netflix-fueled sobfest is exactly what you don't need. If you're in a relationship, watching this movie could make for an even more uncomfortable situation. After all, its harsh (but accurate) portrayal of common relational issues may hit close to home for you and your partner, and with tensions already high due to quarantine, it could make for a fight scene rivaling the ones in the film.

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Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

This page was last edited on Sunday, 20 Sep 2020 at 11:45 UTC

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