Movie review
September 28, 2019 · 137 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Marriage Story is a 2019 drama about a New York theater director and his actress wife who go through a difficult divorce and custody battle over their young son while living on opposite coasts. The story shows how two people who still care for each other hurt one another during the legal process and try to keep life normal for their child. It includes some discussion of career resentment and gender roles in marriage but presents these as personal issues without activist language or identity politics.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Marriage Story.
Woke representation / casting
Casting uses actors who fit the New York theater family and Los Angeles entertainment world naturally with no visible diversity push, identity signaling, or mismatched choices.
Woke political dialogue
All conversations stay on personal feelings, career fights, custody details, and daily life with zero political speeches or activist language.
Identity-driven story themes
The wife expresses frustration about putting her career second in the marriage and losing her sense of self, a common modern gender topic, but the film stays balanced between both characters and avoids framing it as systemic oppression or group identity.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The story shows how aggressive divorce lawyers and family court make conflicts worse and hurt families, a realistic look at the legal system through one couple's experience without activist terms like toxic masculinity or patriarchy.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
A small number of viewers online said the film felt biased against men or leaned feminist in its view of marriage, but these comments stayed minor with no big campaign or media storm accusing it of woke messaging.
Creator track record context
The main creative team focuses on personal drama and relationships across their careers with no pattern of activist projects or public identity politics statements.
