Noah Baumbach’s latest film, Marriage Story, is really a misnomer. There is no one story of marriage — each person brings their own thoughts, issues, quirks and narratives to the relationship, creating a complex web that needs to be untangled, strand by strand.
To that end, Netflix has just released double teasers, from the perspective of each half of the pair in question — marriage “stories,” if you will, that add up to one whole. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver star as Nicole and Charlie, an actress and director going through a difficult divorce, who look back on their time together — the bittersweet and the tender.
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“Marriage Story is a love story that reveals itself within the breakdown,” Baumbach said in a statement released with the teasers. “With these companion trailers I wanted to show the relationship through the eyes of both characters. There are many sides to every story, and the movie embraces these different viewpoints in order to find the shared truth.”
Along with its heavy-hitter lead duo, Marriage Story also boasts a stacked supporting cast, including Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty, Merritt Wever, Azhy Robertson, Mark O’Brien, Wallace Shawn, and Martha Kelly.
The two teasers mirror each other, featuring similar scenes from Nicole and Charlie’s perspective, as each one describes what he or she loves about the other. Scenes that have already destroyed me: a shot of Driver dressed as a bizarre mummy in a suit on Halloween, his slow smile as he watches Johansson do something goofy, and both of them positively losing it over a game of Monopoly.
They’re even set to two different versions of the same sad love song, “I’ve Been Loving You For Too Long.”
In line with Baumbach’s comment, both teasers lead up to the same heartbreaking climax: Nicole tells Charlie that they need to talk, and he answers, “I don’t know how to start.”
Will you tear up just from watching these 90 second snapshots of life? Most likely. But you’ll also laugh, sigh, and swoon. Baumbach is known for finding the comedy within the drama, and this movie seems to be no exception.
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Between this, and Greta Gerwig's upcoming Little Women, I know of at least one marriage story that's headed straight for the Oscars.
Marriage Story will be in theaters and on Netflix this fall. Watch the full double teasers below.