Marriage Story is a 2019 drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach. David Heyman helped produce the film. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a couple dealing with a divorce that involves living in two different cities. Their divorce is made more difficult by problems about who would care for their son. Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty, and Merritt Wever have important roles in the film.
The film was planned in November 2017, and the cast joined the project that same month. It was filmed in New York City and Los Angeles between January and April 2018. Netflix released the film. It first showed at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on August 29, 2019. It was then shown in a few movie theaters starting on November 6, 2019, and became available online on December 6, 2019.
The film was praised by critics, especially for Baumbach’s direction and writing, and for the performances of Johansson, Driver, and Dern. The film was considered for six awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Driver), Best Actress (Johansson), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Score. For her role, Dern won an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award, BAFTA Award, and Critics’ Choice Movie Award, all in the category of Best Supporting Actress.
Plot
Charlie Barber is a successful theater director in New York City. He owns his own theater company and is directing a play. His wife, Nicole, who was a teenage movie actress, is starring in the play. The couple is having marital problems and sees a counselor. The counselor suggests they each write down what they love about one another. Nicole is too embarrassed to read hers aloud, so they stop counseling.
Nicole is offered a starring role in a television pilot in Los Angeles. She decides to leave Charlie’s theater company and move to live with her mother in West Hollywood, taking their son, Henry, with her. Charlie believes the separation will be temporary and stays in New York because his play is moving to Broadway. The couple agrees to split amicably and avoid lawyers. However, Nicole, encouraged by her producer, hires Nora Fanshaw, a well-known family lawyer. Nora helps Nicole explain how she felt neglected by Charlie and how he ignored her ideas. Nicole also believes Charlie had an affair with Mary Ann, his stage manager.
Charlie learns he has won a MacArthur Fellowship grant and visits Nicole’s family in Los Angeles. Nicole serves him with divorce papers. Charlie meets Jay Marotta, a lawyer who advises him to fight aggressively, but Charlie returns to New York without hiring Jay. After receiving a call from Nora, who warns him to get a lawyer or risk losing custody of Henry, Charlie returns to Los Angeles and hires Bert Spitz, a kind and peaceful lawyer who prefers to resolve issues without conflict.
On Halloween, Charlie spends time in Los Angeles. Henry tells Charlie that Nicole wants to stay in California permanently. Charlie calls Nicole and angrily questions her. Nicole reveals she hacked his emails and found proof of his affair with Mary Ann.
Bert advises Charlie to rent an apartment in Los Angeles to strengthen his custody case. To avoid going to court, Bert and Charlie meet with Nora and Nicole. Nora says Charlie refused to respect Nicole’s wish to move back to Los Angeles and claims Henry would prefer to stay with his mother. Bert suggests Charlie give in on this matter, but Charlie does not want to be separated from his son and fires Bert.
Using the first part of his fellowship grant, Charlie hires Jay. In court, Nora and Jay argue strongly on behalf of their clients, leading to harsh accusations. Nora points out Charlie’s emotional distance and past infidelity, while Jay exaggerates Nicole’s drinking habits and threatens legal action over her hacking. Outside of court, Nicole and Charlie try to remain friendly and spend time with Henry, who is growing tired of the conflict.
Disillusioned with the legal process, the couple decides to meet privately. However, their discussion becomes tense. Nicole accuses Charlie of being completely selfish, and Charlie admits he wishes Nicole was dead. Charlie cries and apologizes, and Nicole comforts him. Shortly after, they reach an agreement and finalize their divorce. However, Nora negotiates slightly better terms for Nicole without her knowing, which makes Nicole uncomfortable.
The following Halloween, Charlie returns to Los Angeles. He learns Nicole has a new boyfriend and is nominated for an Emmy Award for directing an episode of her television series. Charlie tells Nicole he has accepted a residency at UCLA and will live in Los Angeles for a while. While everyone is changing into costumes, Charlie finds Henry reading the list of things Nicole wrote about him during mediation. Henry asks Charlie to read the rest aloud, and Charlie does so, becoming emotional. Nicole watches from the doorway unnoticed. After trick-or-treating, Nicole offers to let Charlie take Henry home, even though it is her night. She notices Charlie’s shoe is untied and, as his arms are full carrying Henry, ties it for him before he leaves.
Cast
Matthew Maher, Gideon Glick, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Raymond J. Lee, Mary Wiseman, and Becca Blackwell are in the movie as unnamed actors in Charlie's theater group.
Production
The idea for the film first came to Baumbach in 2016, while he was working on The Meyerowitz Stories. He started researching the topic and met with his longtime collaborator, Driver, to talk about the character Driver would play. In November 2017, it was announced that Driver, Johansson, Laura Dern, Merritt Wever, and Azhy Robertson would be in the film. David Heyman was producing through his company, Heyday Films, and Netflix was also producing and distributing the film. In March 2018, Kyle Bornheimer joined the cast, and in June 2018, Ray Liotta was added to the cast.
Principal photography began on January 15, 2018, and lasted for 47 days until April 2018. The film was shot in New York City and Los Angeles.
When talking about writing the film, Baumbach mentioned his 2013 divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh and his parents’ divorce, which inspired his earlier film The Squid and the Whale. He said:
After the film was released, Baumbach shared, "I showed [Leigh] the script and then I showed her the movie a little bit ago. She likes it a lot."
Randy Newman created the film’s music, which is his second collaboration with Baumbach after The Meyerowitz Stories (2017). The music was recorded at 20th Century Fox Studios’ Newman Scoring Stage, a special studio named after Newman’s uncles, Alfred and Lionel. A group of 40 musicians played limited instruments during the recording.
The film’s soundtrack album was released by Lakeshore Records. The first song, "What I Love About Nicole," was released as a single on November 1, 2019. The album was available digitally on November 15 and in physical form on December 13.
Release
Marriage Story had its first showing at the Venice Film Festival on August 29, 2019. It was shown at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, the Toronto International Film Festival (where it received second place for the People's Choice Award) on September 8, the New York Film Festival (where it was chosen as the Centerpiece selection) on October 4, and the BFI London Film Festival on October 6.
Netflix showed the film in some theaters starting on November 6, 2019, and later made it available for streaming on December 6.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection on July 21, 2020.
Reception
Netflix does not share the total money made by all its films in theaters. However, IndieWire estimated that Marriage Story earned about $160,000 from five theaters during its first weekend, and $200,000 over its first five days. The site noted that these numbers are usually low, but because the film played in fewer theaters with limited seats and because people knew it would soon be available on Netflix, the numbers were enough for Netflix. The film earned about $140,000 from 16 theaters the next weekend, $340,000 from 85 theaters the third weekend, and $360,000 from 130 theaters the fourth weekend. Over the month, the film earned about $1.2 million in total. The following weekend, even though it was released on Netflix, the film earned about $300,000 from 120 theaters, and $120,000 from 80 theaters the next week. In total, Marriage Story earned about $2 million in North America and $333,686 in other countries, for a worldwide total of about $2.3 million.
On Rotten Tomatoes, 95% of 405 critics gave the film positive reviews, with an average score of 8.8 out of 10. The site’s summary said the film shows a troubled marriage with care and depth, and it is one of the best works by director Noah Baumbach. Metacritic gave the film a score of 94 out of 100, based on 53 critics, which means most critics strongly approved of the film.
Critic Owen Gleiberman of Variety said the film is funny, powerful, and emotional, with strong performances that show the complexity of life. Alonso Duralde of TheWrap praised the acting and the screenplay, saying the film deserves to be compared to classic films about marriage. Jon Frosch of The Hollywood Reporter said the film shows divorce in a clear and powerful way, with performances that are both funny and touching. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film five stars, calling it sweet, sad, and funny, and praising the cast’s performances. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, saying the film centers on the performances of Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver.
GQ’s David Levesley said the film is good but criticized the characters’ wealthy lifestyle, saying it does not reflect the lives of many people. Armond White of The National Review said the film focuses too much on class differences and criticized the performances of the lead actors.
After its release, Marriage Story became a popular subject for internet jokes. In 2025, the US Department of Agriculture in Oregon used drones to play a scene from the film to scare wolves away from livestock.
According to Wired, a meme of Adam Driver punching a wall during a fight scene in the film has made the argument between the characters seem lighter and more humorous. The scene has been used to show people arguing over small things and reacting strongly.
Marriage Story was named one of the best films of the year by the American Film Institute, the National Board of Review, and Time magazine. It received six nominations, including for Best Motion Picture – Drama, at the 77th Golden Globe Awards, where Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress. The film received eight nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards, three at the Screen Actors Guild Awards (for the performances of Driver, Johansson, and Dern), five at the British Academy Film Awards, and six at the Academy Awards. Dern won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Time magazine’s list of the best performances of the year included Driver’s performance as the third best acting performance of 2019.