--- title: "Scenes from a Marriage" year: 2021 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/scenes-from-a-marriage-2021" fi1m_score: 64 critics_score: 65 critics_reviews: 12 published: "2026-09-17T13:23:06.042653+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T13:23:17.260262+00:00" region: "US" 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." --- # Scenes from a Marriage (2021) Created by Hagai Levi · 1h 00m · MPA TV-MA · Drama **Fi1m score: 64** · Critics 65 from 12 reviews *In a sentence:* Two excellent actors dismantle a marriage in a tasteful kitchen, and the kitchen island outlasts them both > Hagai Levi’s remake of Bergman’s 1973 series gives Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac five hours to take a marriage apart, and they do it with rare skill. Around them the series is handsome, careful and short of anything the original had not already said. ## Synopsis Mira Phillips (Jessica Chastain) and Jonathan Levy (Oscar Isaac) have been married long enough to answer questions as a unit, and the first episode opens with them doing exactly that, side by side on their own sofa, being asked how they make it work. They answer smoothly; only we can hear the gaps. Their friends Kate (Nicole Beharie) and Peter (Corey Stoll) come to dinner and begin to come apart at the table while their hosts watch and say nothing. Then, alone in the house, Mira and Jonathan start a conversation neither of them had planned, and the marriage begins to say aloud what it has been thinking. There are five episodes, each about an hour. ## Review Ingmar Bergman made [*Scenes from a Marriage*](https://film.one/film/scenes-from-a-marriage-1974) for Swedish television in 1973, six episodes of Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson talking a marriage to death in close-up. Hagai Levi has remade it as five episodes of around an hour and swapped the roles, so the restlessness Bergman gave the husband now belongs to the wife. Jessica Chastain plays Mira, Oscar Isaac plays Jonathan, and between them they give the best sustained acting we saw on television that year. The series around them is well made and adds almost nothing to a work that did not need remaking. Each episode opens outside the fiction. Chastain walks through a car park and into a building, passes crew in masks, hands off her phone, and someone calls her Mira; she steps through a door and is in the house. It is a striking idea once. By the third time it has told us what we already knew, that these are performances, and it has made Kevin Thompson’s house feel like a set just before the episode asks us to believe it is a home. The house itself is right: an open kitchen, a wooden staircase, everything paid for and nothing showy. Andrij Parekh shoots it handheld and close, staying with whichever face is losing the argument and following the other one when it walks out. Isaac does the most difficult thing here. Jonathan has built his life around being the reasonable one, and when the bad news comes in the second hour he does not shout. He asks practical questions, offers to help, keeps his voice level, and Isaac lets us see the cost of each of those choices as he makes them. It moved us more than we expected, and what did it was the plainness: a man packing a bag for someone else because he cannot think of anything else to do with his hands. Chastain plays Mira’s guilt as impatience. She wants it over, she wants him to make it easier, and she is honest enough to know how that sounds. It is the less sympathetic part and she does not ask for sympathy. The dinner with Kate and Peter is the one scene with other people in it, and it is the funniest thing in the series. Corey Stoll explains his philosophy of marriage with the confidence of a man who has read one article, and Nicole Beharie sits beside him doing arithmetic on her whole life. We laughed, and then Beharie said something quiet and we stopped. The trouble is the writing. Levi and Amy Herzog’s teleplay is dense and articulate, and everyone in it is careful about how they sound. Bergman’s couple said unforgivable things fast and then had to sit there with them. These two have been to therapy, and they talk like it, which is true to who they are and slower to watch. By the fourth hour the argument about who gave up what for whom is being had for the third time, and we caught ourselves counting. The role swap is announced early and then left alone; the series notes it and goes back to the marriage as if the swap had changed nothing, which rather raises the question of why it was made. The smaller decisions are good. Sacha Galperine and Evgueni Galperine keep their music almost entirely for the ends of episodes, a few notes of piano and strings, and the silence in between is the right choice. Yael Hersonski holds on faces well past the point where a cut would be merciful. Miyako Bellizzi puts Mira in the office clothes she has not had time to change out of and Jonathan in the same soft jumpers, and the difference does more work than several of the speeches. Levi made *In Treatment* and co-created *The Affair*, and he knows how to keep two people talking in a room for an hour. What he has not found is a reason for these two people, in this decade, to have this exact conversation again. Bergman’s version was made quickly and cheaply and feels like a raid on private life. This one feels like a production. It carries a 15 certificate, earned by what is said rather than what is shown, and it is best taken one episode a night, because five hours of it at a sitting is not a marriage but an ordeal. *Fi1m score 64, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics come away admiring the two people on screen more than the series around them. The reviews lean positive, and the praise clusters almost entirely on Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, whose performances are called honest, agonising and the main reason to keep watching a talky two-hander about a marriage coming apart. Several also credit Hagai Levi’s script for catching how impossible neutral conversation becomes once a couple has soured, and for treating separation with some care. The reservations are about the remake itself. A good number of critics question why Bergman’s original needed revisiting, finding the update familiar, overly stagey or short on fresh thinking about modern relationships; Empire calls it a head exercise without the original’s emotional force. The spread is wide, from warm early festival notices to a cooler run of British reviews, and The i Paper stands alone in finding no chemistry between the leads, which most others count as the series’ chief strength. ### Reviews we read (12) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (90/100, inferred): The update of Bergman's miniseries is affecting and exquisitely acted, finding its own path while remaining in parallel to familiar territory. It singles out the honest, agonizing performances of Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain for praise. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/scenes-from-a-marriage-review-hbo-oscar-isaac-jessica-chastain-1234661725/) - **Vulture** (80/100, inferred): The HBO miniseries belongs to its stars, who give life to the story through extraordinarily well-acted and often affecting performances. It singles out Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain's chemistry and believable portrayal of a couple with deep history for praise. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/scenes-from-a-marriage-hbo-miniseries-review-oscar-isaac-jessica-chastain.html) - **Evening Standard** (70/100, inferred): The update is emotionally gruelling but the powerful central performances from Chastain and Isaac keep viewers engaged in this talky two-hander about the painful work of ending a relationship. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/scenes-from-a-marriage-review-sky-atlantic-oscar-isaac-jessica-chastain-b959814.html) - **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): The remake is relentlessly intimate and focuses on one fracturing couple with a dense script that captures the impossibility of neutral communication once a relationship sours. It deals sensitively with questions of long-term relationships, gender dynamics and the worth of separation, with strong performances from Chastain and Isaac. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/11/scenes-from-a-marriage-review-jessica-chastain-oscar-isaac) - **The Times**, Carol Midgley (70/100, inferred): The review highlights a relationship breakdown that is compelling and hard to turn away from, praising the intense focus on the central couple's emotional turmoil. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/scenes-from-a-marriage-review-a-relationship-breakdown-i-couldnt-turn-away-from-l2v759w5f) - **Empire**, Ian Freer (60/100, inferred): Levi's update is an interesting, beautifully played acting showcase but lacks the emotional wallop of Bergman's original, feeling more like a detached head exercise than raw marital drama. Spectacular turns from Chastain and Isaac are the main draw in an otherwise unconvincing remake. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/scenes-from-a-marriage/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (55/100, inferred): Tremendous performances from Chastain and Isaac elevate this otherwise uninspired, derivative adaptation that feels insufficiently reflective of its source or modern context. It succeeds as a performance-driven piece but lacks fresh insights into relationships. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/scenes-from-marriage-2021-1235008527/) - **Variety** (50/100, inferred): The series excels as a theatrical acting exercise for Chastain and Isaac but undercuts its own reality and fails to deliver coherent insight into marriage or acrimony. Fleeting cinema-vérité elements highlight its limitations rather than strengths. [Read](https://variety.com/2021/tv/reviews/scenes-from-a-marriage-venice-jessica-chastain-oscar-isaac-1235049878/) - **The i Paper**, Ed Power (40/100, inferred): The gender-swapped remake fails to convince due to a striking lack of chemistry between Chastain and Isaac, making their marriage implausible despite strong individual performances. A few moments, like the abortion reveal, land with authenticity amid an otherwise stagey drama. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/scenes-from-a-marriage-sky-atlantic-review-jessica-chastain-oscar-isaac-1243031) - **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (B): The critic finds the remake unnecessary and somewhat flawed in its approach, but praises the powerful performances by Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain that make the emotional truths about relationships compelling. [Read](https://collider.com/scenes-from-a-marriage-review-hbo-oscar-isaac-jessica-chastain/) - **Paste**, Radhika Menon (7.2/10): The review criticizes the series for not warranting a remake, lacking uniqueness or depth beyond the original, but highlights the strong chemistry and performances of Chastain and Isaac as the main saving grace. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/scenes-from-a-marriage/scenes-from-a-marriage-review) - **The Ringer**, Alison Herman (45/100, inferred): The HBO remake, created and directed by Hagai Levi, updates Bergman’s original with contemporary gender roles and pandemic-era production flourishes but remains a claustrophobic portrait of a dissolving marriage. While Chastain and Isaac deliver intense performances, the series feels overly familiar and emotionally draining without offering fresh insight into modern relationships. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2021/09/13/tv/scenes-from-a-marriage-review-hbo-ingmar-bergman) ## Details - **Created by:** Hagai Levi - **Creator:** Hagai Levi - **Director:** Hagai Levi - **Teleplay:** Hagai Levi, Amy Herzog - **Cinematography:** Andrij Parekh - **Editor:** Yael Hersonski - **Music:** Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine - **Production design:** Kevin Thompson - **Costume design:** Miyako Bellizzi - **Producer:** Carver Karaszewski - **Cast:** Jessica Chastain as Mira Phillips; Oscar Isaac as Jonathan Levy; Nicole Beharie as Kate; Corey Stoll as Peter; Sunita Mani as Danielle; Maury Ginsberg as Arye Levy; Susan Pourfar as Elisheva Levy; Daniella Rabbani as Jane - **Runtime:** 1h 00m - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 12 September 2021 - **Genres:** Drama - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_b-y2KD070 ## Where to watch in the US - HBO Max: streaming, uhd - Hulu: add-on, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy, hd - Apple TV: buy, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IS, IT, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Scenes from a Marriage* (1973): Bergman’s original, rougher, crueller and faster to the wound than the remake - *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: Asghar Farhadi’s Tehran divorce, where every reasonable decision makes things worse — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md) - *45 Years* (2015), Fi1m 88: Charlotte Rampling discovers a marriage’s foundations were never quite where she thought — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/45-years.md) - *Before Midnight* (2013): One long hotel-room argument, and the most honest of Linklater’s trilogy - *Two for the Road* (1967): Hepburn and Finney drive through twelve years of marriage, out of order --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/scenes-from-a-marriage-2021