Marriage Story (2019) was directed and written by Noah Baumbach. It was produced by both Baumbach and David Heyman. In addition, Netflix made an arrangement to obtain the movie as a Netflix Original, and thus the company both produced and distributed it. The film was announced in 2017, and completed its filming on August 28, 2019. The film stars Adam Driver as Charlie Barber and Scarlet Johansson as Nicole Barber.
According to IMDB, a synopsis for Marriage Story is as follows: "Sadly, after numerous disastrous sessions of marital mediation, New York City's brilliant theatre director, Charlie, and the one-time Los Angeles movie actress, Nicole, decided to split up, putting an end to their decade-long marriage. However, divorce is horrible--and as the once-close-knit couple struggles to make it work for the sake of their eight-year-old son, Henry--vitriolic accusations and bitter resentment threaten the very foundation of Charlie and Nicole's so-called amicable separation. Now, shrewd and absurdly costly lawyers take over, and things are bound to get messy. But, why are love's wounds so deep, and cruelly painful? In the end, is love always forever?"
The distribution of Marriage Story follows in line with what Netflix typically does with their bigger movies. It received an exclusive theatrical release starting on November 6th, 2019, before being made available on their streaming service one month later on December sixth. While it did not make an abundance of money compared to other major movies, its revenue was more than enough when considering the circumstance of it being released for streaming one month later.
In terms of technology, Marriage Story did not really use much CGI, as its realistic setting and its less action-centric story did not dictate the use of it.
Marriage Story was marketed pretty straight forwardly. The narrative takes place during the end phase of the main couple's marriage, which is rather uncommon. It was shown to be a romantic-drama. Throughout the marketing, an emphasis is placed on the fact that Charlie and Nicole's marriage is over, and thus a lot of the marketing has them separated. Some of the first posters released, which were made by BLT Communications, were two separate posters, one featuring Charlie and one featuring Nicole. They featured an outline of their heads with the city they lived in inside them. This demonstrates the distance between them and the fight between them for the custody of their son. When the first teaser or trailer comes out for a movie, there is typically only one. However, Marriage Story released two teasers, one from the point of view of Charlie and one from Nicole's. They featured both of them listing what they loved about the other one, an activity that they partook in as a part of marriage counseling. This, along with a later poster of Nicole and Charlie snuggling with their son, Henry, painted a picture of a happier time, one that the movie would not focus on, as that time had past. In addition, the movie featured standard marketing activities, such as a press tour, interviews of the director and the cast, and showcases at various festivals. Some of those festivals include the 2019 Venice Film Festival where the movie was screened, the Telluride Film Festival, which featured famed director Martin Scorsese who presented a tribute to Adam Driver, and Netflix even reopened the previously closed Paris Theater in New York to air the film.
While Marriage Story received quite a few nominations, it did not ending up winning too many awards in comparison. It was nominated for six Oscars at the Academy Awards in 2020, including Best Motion Picture of the Year (Baumbach, Heyman), Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Scarlet Johannsson), Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Adam Driver), and more. However, it only won Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Laura Dern). It performed similarly at the 2020 Golden Globes, being nominated for six awards, but yet again only winning one, the same type as it won at the Oscars [Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Laura Dern)].