Ever since Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain wowed audiences on the red carpet with their chemistry, people have been looking forward to Scenes From a Marriage. Luckily, the first episode just premiered on HBO Max and I just got a chance to sit down and watch it. While Isaac and Chastain were hot to trot on the red carpet, their on-screen depiction of their relationship is laced with tension, awkward laughs, and a marriage seemingly barely held together.
Slight Spoilers
The episode starts with Isaac as Jonathan and Chastain as Mira. The two have volunteered to be the subjects of a study on what it means to be a “successful” marriage. The two have been together for over ten years and as Mira says, the bar is pretty low as to what is considered a successful marriage. Now, just to interject a little of myself here – I have been in a ten years-plus relationship. I can tell you firsthand that it is not all sunshine and rainbows. That it’s work to stay together, because sometimes it seems easier to break apart. In that case, I completely understand the awkwardness that comes from Mira and Jonathan when having to speak about their marriage to someone who has seemingly (most likely) never been in a long-lasting relationship. People who have never been in a long relationship all think there’s some magic spell keeping people together, when there’s no “secret” to spill.
Oscar and Jessica’s Chemistry
Anyway, what I’m getting at is that Chastain and Isaac display this very well. Their relationship, on-screen; is very real in the case of a long-lasting relationship. Ten-plus years is a long time; a lot happens. You end up hurting the people you love and your relationship is not what it was like when you first got together. I felt the incredible tenseness that came from their interactions and in some cases, it was a little hard to watch. Especially, the end scene.
Rating: 4/5
Another tense scene came from Mira and Jonathan’s dinner with their friends Peter (Corey Stoll) and Kate (Nicole Beharie). Compared to Peter and Kate, Jonathan and Mira come out as the more together couple. However, it seems there’s an immense amount of stress between them and the dinner did nothing to help the situation. The episode ends starkly and leaves us with a feeling that this couple is going to go through the wringer. At the end, will the two last? I do look forward to watching this journey.
Did you check out the first episode of Scenes From a Marriage?
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