This groundbreaking animated feature, “My Love Affair With Marriage”, follows Zelma (Dagmara Dominczyk, HBO’s “Succession“) who navigates through a series of romantic encounters, each one shaping her understanding of love and marriage. With unflinching honesty, she grapples with the conflicting forces of passion and disillusionment, her own desires, fears, and insecurities, painting a raw and intimate portrait of the human heart.

From acclaimed writer / director Signe Baumane (“Rocks in My Pockets”) along with an amazing voice cast that includes Matthew Modine (“Stranger Things”, “Oppenheimer“), Cameron Monaghan (Showtime’s “Shameless“, “The Giver”) and Stephen Lang (“Avatar“), this award winning film features striking visuals, poignant storytelling and a cinematic experience that will linger in the hearts and minds of viewers long after the credits roll.

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Video Quality

My Love Affair With Marriage comes to Blu-Ray from MVD Entertainment with a sumptuous 1080p transfer in its original aspect ratio. We always love the simple artistry of a 2-D animated film, and the distinct style that is implemented for this feature is a true delight. The character designs are thoughtful and thrive within this established world. There is a well of detail and style in every frame which makes it feel like a more tactile experience. The detail put into each new location is a wonder, especially as you explore some of the background environments more thoroughly.

This animation studio chooses to give this world a more heightened version of our own with countless inventive ideas deployed to represent the imagination of our protagonist. The colors in this transfer are beautiful with numerous hues making an impression even when the narrative itself gets a bit gloomy. Black levels are appropriately strong with no signs of compression artifacts or digital anomalies. The transfer handles every movement and complicated set piece with firm stability including no jagged lines or color bleeding. This transfer delivers on all fronts.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio lossless track presented here in its original English with optional English SDH, French, Latvian, and Spanish subtitles. The track provides an exciting sonic experience that brings the movie to life with a bit of flair. This is represented best in the musical numbers that saturate the room in a wonderfully enveloping way. Dialogue and narration come through clearly at all times without being overshadowed by any competing elements. The sonic detail in the surround channels delights as the sound of various environmental flourishes creates a rich world. The track engages the low end on occasion to add some texture to the world. The audio experience is everything you want for this one.

Special Features

Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series Presents Director Signe Baumane: A 58-minute speaking engagement with the filmmaker in which she takes a deep dive into the creation of her film and all of the challenges that came with the production.

Trailer: The two-minute trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

My Love Affair With Marriage is a respectable animated outing that takes an ambitious swing in trying to weave together raw confessional insights with academic analysis of feminist theory and whimsical daydreams. The movie surprisingly holds together as an engaging narrative, but it never feels like it reaches its full creative potential. The movie ends up being one you admire for what it is championing rather than how it plays out. The movie could use some more genuinely hilarious punctuations rather than polite chuckles. Even with this being the case, it is still a film worth seeking out and judging for yourself for the ambition alone. MVD Entertainment has provided a Blu-Ray featuring a lovely A/V presentation and a great supplement. Recommended

My Love Affair With Marriage is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: MVD Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.