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Movies & TV

13th Oct 2021

One of the most-anticipated shows of 2021 has quietly been made available to Irish viewers this week

Rory Cashin

Although be warned, you’ll likely only want to watch this one episode per night…

When some of the biggest and best performers in the world announce that they’re going to take on the gargantuan task of remaking one of the most iconic miniseries of all time, plus they’re going to do it for HBO, then TV lovers need to sit up and take notice.

That is exactly the case with Scenes From A Marriage, a remake of the 1973 show written and directed by nine-time Oscar-nominee Ingmar Bergman.

The remake is fronted by two of the best actors in the game today, with Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain playing husband and wife in a marriage that is on the edge of complete and total collapse.

Taking a microscope to the idea of modern relationships, many of the early critical reactions praise the incredible central duo performances, but also warn that the show on the whole is probably the least binge-watchable show to come along in some time…

The Playlist – “This new HBO version is intimate, intense, equally painful, and hard to watch at times.”

TV Guide – “It’s an acting tour de force, to be sure, impossible to look away from even when it’s almost too difficult to watch.”

The Times – “Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac give masterclass performances and deliver crackling, wounding dialogue faultlessly as the marriage starts to bleed out. If you like intense, claustrophobic drama, it’s here.”

Chicago Sun-Times – “This is a full-on remake that retains much of the basic framework of Bergman’s masterpiece and carries an emotional punch that’s nearly as powerful. Old Juilliard pals Chastain and Isaac, who teamed up so memorably in the 2014 crime noir A Most Violent Year, deliver a master class in tandem acting that’s as good as anything I’ve seen on any platform in 2021.”

All five episodes of Scenes From A Marriage are available to watch on NOW right now.

Clip via HBO

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