Relationships are hard…
Charlie (Adam Driver) is married to Nicole (Scarlet Johansson) but it’s all falling apart. While Charlie is a theatre director with no intention of leaving New York, Nicole just got cast in a big TV show and is relocating to LA. What should have been a simple and amicable separation devolves into an ugly mess that puts a strain on their relationship and the very fabric of their family unit.
The hyperbole is earned here because Marriage Story is one of the most devastatingly elegant things that have simply ever been put on screen and it improves upon other entries in the family drama canon because this makes it almost exclusively between the spouses and keeps the rest of the family on the edges.
With intensely intimate camera work; writer/director Noah Baumbach puts us in the middle of the one thing we all hate the most; change. He’s crafted something that is funny, emotionally savage, heartfelt and honest in capturing what it means when a marriage is ending and the dynamic of the family unit is being forced to change when at least one of them probably doesn’t want it to. It’s beautiful yet brutal honesty as we see how people who love each other can really treat each other.
With performances from Driver and Johansson that simply dominate the frame, Marriage Story is the kind of movie that you honestly can’t look away from, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel. It’s simply the truth.
David Voigt is a Toronto based writer with a problem and a passion for the moving image and all things cinema. Having moved from production to the critical side of the aisle for well over 15 years now at outlets like Examiner.com, Criticize This, Dork Shelf (Now That Shelf), and to.Night Newspaper.
He’s been all across the continent; serving on the FIPRESCI Jury at the Festival Du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal, covering festivals out side of Toronto like Calgary Underground Film Festival, CUFF Docs, Slamdance, Fantasia, SXSW, DOC NYC, Santa Barbara Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival and many others
However, In the uncertain world of modern film journalism, David also knew that he needed to have a hand in writing and cementing his own contributions on the global film scene.
Having eclipsed the 10 year anniversary of his own outlet, In The Seats, where he’s been striving to support film (and TV) from all walks of life and his podcast “In The Seats With…” where after 5 & ½ years and over 750 episodes he’s talked with a wide variety of filmmakers, actors, behind the scenes artisans and so much more on the art of storytelling for the screen, which is spawning the launch of a new show in the Spring of 2026. “ITS: Soundtracks” will focus on the use of soundtrack and score in film which he believes is a combination that is the cinematic equivalent of Peanut Butter and Chocolate.
All this as well as hosting and moderating a variety of big screen events around the city, covering film in all its forms is just a way of life for him.
