In this week’s Movie Memory Machine: Five For mini-episode, Landen and Truman unpack five films that more meaningfully—and sometimes more messily—explore marriage, communication, and relationship evolution than Hope Springs ever dared. From cozy golden pond chats to sci-fi couples therapy gone wrong, this list offers everything from prestige Swedish drama to 1930s slapstick divorce. Hope might spring eternal, but these movies bring the nuance.
Films Discussed:
On Golden Pond (1981)
The One I Love (2014)
Scenes from a Marriage (1973 or 2021)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Before Midnight (2013)
Topics Covered:
Sunset vibes and legacy pairings in On Golden Pond
The One I Love and the lo-fi sci-fi spin on relationship repair
Bergman’s emotionally devastating take on marriage in Scenes from a Marriage
Slapstick meets sincerity in the classic The Awful Truth
Before Midnight as the most honest depiction of midlife marriage ever captured on screen
Key Takeaways:
Hope Springs may have opened the door, but these films walk through it (and sometimes slam it)
Scenes from a Marriage is therapy before therapy
Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke prove love isn’t always quiet sunsets—it’s arguments in Greece too
The Awful Truth showed us that Hollywood’s been flirting with divorce for nearly a century
Listener Prompt:
Which movie got marriage right—or hilariously wrong? Tag us with your picks using #MovieMemoryMachine.
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