--- title: "Marriage Story: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/marriage-story/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/marriage-story" critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 22 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Marriage Story (2019): what the critics said Critics' score 82 from 22 reviews: 19 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics greet Marriage Story warmly, praising Baumbach’s ability to make divorce funny without softening its cruelty. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson receive the most consistent praise for performances that convey anger, affection and hurt, often within the same exchange. The writing also draws approval for its close attention to marital grievances and legal proceedings. Many reviews find the film generous towards both spouses, allowing neither to become a convenient villain. The main disagreement concerns that even-handedness. Vulture finds the husband’s perspective dominant and detects self-pity, while the Evening Standard also sees a bias towards him. Other reservations concern familiarity and theatricality: The Skinny finds the narrative predictable, and Eye for Film considers the larger arguments stagy and the debt to earlier divorce films too apparent. The spread runs from enthusiastic praise to mixed responses, with even the less persuaded critics admiring the central performances. ## Little White Lies — Matt Thrift Rating 4/5/5. 13 November 2019. Baumbach delivers what just might be his masterpiece with this bitterly funny divorce drama. It is even-handed and empathetic, with devastating cumulative power powered by knockout performances. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/marriage-story) ## Radio Times — Stephen Carty Rating 5/5. Marriage Story is funny, moving and heart-breaking, and just may be a modern masterpiece. It features exceptional performances from Driver and Johansson and does not take sides in the divorce. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-h4012h/marriage-story/) ## Time Out — Joshua Rothkopf Rating 5/5. 29 August 2019. Baumbach's divorce drama is a bruising tour de force and easily the wisest film of his career. It features powerhouse performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, climaxing in a ferocious verbal showdown. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/marriage-story-1) ## Empire — Terri White Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 November 2019. The critic praises the film's balanced and empathetic portrayal of divorce, highlighting the standout performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson along with its unexpected humor that lightens the emotional weight. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/marriage-story/) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating A-. 11 September 2019. Baumbach applies his expertise in human discomfort to the emotional and legal quagmire of divorce in a deeply thoughtful, empathetic film. It features nuanced performances from Driver and Johansson, especially in a gut-wrenching fight scene. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/noah-baumbach-makes-a-moving-divorce-drama-and-adam-sa-1838045154) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 November 2019. Baumbach delivers a superb, generous portrait of a marriage's death throes that is sweet, sad and funny, with terrific performances from Johansson and Driver. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/15/marriage-story-review-noah-baumbach-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson) ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). Baumbach's film is brisk, witty and revels in a mischievous sense of fun while offering a harrowing view of spousal difference. It features strong performances, especially from Scarlett Johansson, and ends with a sense of acceptance. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-of-the-week-marriage-story/) ## The i Paper — Demetrios Matheou Rating ★★★★. 14 November 2019. The critic calls it a sublime, heart-breaking and balanced divorce drama with faultless lead performances that surpass even Kramer vs. Kramer, praising its emotional depth and ensemble cast. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/marriage-story-netflix-review-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson-devastating-divorce-362849) ## The Times — Tom Shone Rating ★★★★. 17 November 2019. Baumbach’s most mature and generous work peels open a marriage with scenes that are funny, painful, sad and joyous; it is also his most emotional film. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/film-reviews-marriage-story-le-mans-66-qr3cnqhg9) ## Evening Standard — David Sexton Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 November 2019. The critic describes the film as expert and deeply felt with strong performances and humor, but notes it feels somewhat biased toward the male lead and finds the climactic song sequence awkward. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/marriage-story-review-adam-driver-and-scarlett-johansson-serve-up-tearjerking-anatomy-of-divorce-a4288021.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 2 September 2019. Festival review. Baumbach offers a close-up portrait of a dissolving relationship as a deteriorating combat zone, with outstanding stripped-raw performances by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. It is a very particular film set for awards attention. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/marriage-story-venice-review/5142233.article) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 November 2019. The critic notes that the film toys with the audience as one couple dissolves, blending near-farce and emotional brutality in pure Baumbach style. It singles out the devastating performances and the frighteningly first-world depiction of divorce proceedings for praise and complaint alike. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/11/end-times-in-terminator-dark-fate-and-marriage-story) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2019. The critic notes stretches of brilliance, particularly the prologue and small resonant moments, but finds the film undercut by the director's sour self-pity, with the story centering more on the husband's perspective. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2019/11/marriage-story-movie-review-noah-baumbach-divorce.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang 5 November 2019. The critic calls it an emotionally lacerating experience and a nearly flawless elegy for a beautifully flawed couple, a broken-family classic. The masterful acting by Driver and Johansson is singled out as an acting master class. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-11-05/marriage-story-netflix-review-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson) ## Sight and Sound — Christina Newland 31 August 2019. Baumbach addresses the fatal flaws in the relationship with painful clarity in this reflective and occasionally devastating drama. The film veers from the piquantly funny to the downright brutal, closing on a hopeful note despite its sadness. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/marriage-story-review-noah-baumbachs-divorce-tale-has-rueful-ring-truth) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Jon Frosch 29 August 2019. Festival review. The critic calls it Baumbach's best yet, a tough but funny and tender work about good people at their worst during divorce. It highlights the sensational, deeply alive performances from the leads. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/marriage-story-review-1234560/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 5 November 2019. The critic describes the film as a tender and stinging tale of divorce that is funny and sad in equal measure, weaving a plot out of the messy collapse of a shared reality while making music out of disharmony. The performances of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are singled out for their self-conscious uncoupling in this emotionally resonant story. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/movies/marriage-story-review.html) ## The Telegraph Rating **. 10 February 2020. A funny, fine-grained screwball take on Kramer vs. Kramer that mines specific details of divorce and bicoastal life for comedy and insight. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/marriage-story-review-scarlett-johansson-adam-driver-splits-screwball-kramer/) ## The Playlist — Rodrigo Perez Rating A. 29 August 2019. Festival review. Baumbach delivers his best film yet, a cathartic and empathetic portrait of marital collapse filled with humor, heartbreak, and humanity. Outstanding performances from Driver and Johansson anchor the wrenching yet generous story of survival and lingering love. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/marriage-story-baumbach-venice-review-20190829/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating A-. 6 December 2019. The critic calls the film excellent and emotionally overwhelming, noting that it shows divorce as a collision of love and hate through nuanced performances rather than broad melodrama. [Read the review](https://collider.com/marriage-story-review-netflix-adam-driver/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 4.5/5. 10 October 2019. Baumbach delivers his most mature effort yet, a funny and poignant meditation on divorce featuring career-defining work from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/marriage-story-review-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 9/10. 9 September 2019. Festival review. The heartfelt drama showcases career-best work from Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple navigating divorce. Baumbach crafts a character study that finds both humor and pain in the dissolution of a marriage. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/568963/marriage-story-review/) ## Polygon — Karen Han Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 December 2019. The critic lauds the refusal to create heroes or villains, emphasizing the even portrayal of the couple's lingering tenderness and the bittersweet quality of their separation. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/2019/12/6/20999222/marriage-story-review-netflix-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson-noah-baumbach/) ## The Ringer — Adam Nayman Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 13 September 2019. Festival review. The critic praises the film's focus on love's power to make people mean and its even-handed structure, highlighting Driver's internalized performance and the writing's tonal balance. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2019/09/13/movies/uncut-gems-marriage-story-review-tiff) ## HeyUGuys — Adam Solomons Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 12 September 2019. Festival review. The review highlights the messy realities of divorce and custody battles through strong performances by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. It praises the film's balance of humor, emotional depth, and light touch despite heavy themes. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/marriage-story-review-tiff-2019/) ## The Skinny — Carmen Paddock Rating ★★★. 9 October 2019. Festival review. Powerful central performances cannot disguise a certain staleness and predictability in this divorce narrative. It benefits from faultless acting and keeps the audience on both sides' perspectives. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/marriage-story) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 2019. The film excels at showing conflicted emotions where old love underlies fresh acrimony but feels stagy in its big arguments and overly reliant on prior divorce films. Johansson delivers the stronger lead performance while the story lacks fresh ideas. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/marriage-story-2019-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond 5 November 2019. Pete Hammond hails the film as a masterpiece and a smart, moving love story about divorce. He singles out the no-villains approach, the depth of the lead performances by Driver and Johansson, and the strong ensemble of lawyers. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/video/marriage-story-review-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson-netflix-noah-baumbach/) ## Paste — Andy Crump Rating 6.1. 12 December 2019. The review finds the film honest about divorce drawn from personal experience but criticizes its self-conscious excess and lack of messiness despite strong lead performances. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/marriage-story/marriage-story-review) ## The Wrap 6 December 2019. The review praises Baumbach for continuing his streak of humane, heartbreaking films with this powerful and poignant tale of a couple's breakup. It highlights the film's balanced empathy toward both spouses and their son, along with the incisive writing and strong ensemble performances. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/marriage-story-film-review-scarlett-johansson-adam-driver-netflix/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/marriage-story.md