Overview
It's the American cable TV network everyone knows by name in Australia, even though it doesn't air here. We all know its famed television static intro clip, too. That'd be HBO, which keeps carving out a place in TV lovers' hearts because it just keeps delivering must-see television programs. We've all just finished streaming our way through The White Lotus, after all — and next comes Scenes From a Marriage.
As its name makes plain, Scenes From a Marriage steps inside a relationship, and finds that it's hardly a picture of domestic bliss. It stars two supremely watchable leads: Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. The former was last seen on our screens saving the galaxy and fighting evil in Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker, and will also show up in Dune when it finally hits cinemas. The latter last popped up in IT: Chapter Two and the straight-to-digital Ava. And if pairing them up sounds familiar, that's because they've already navigated a complex and fraying marriage in 2014's A Most Violent Year.
Given that their last collaboration turned out phenomenally, seeing Isaac and Chastain team up again looks to be a treat. And if you know your classic Swedish TV, you'll know they're following in footsteps other than their own, too. If that doesn't apply to you, this miniseries is adapted from an iconic work by one of the best Swedish filmmakers ever — the late, great Ingmar Bergman.
Chastain plays Mira, a tech executive who is unhappy in her marriage to Isaac's Jonathan. He's keen to save their relationship, but marital troubles are never that straight forward — as this series promises to explore through the couple's private conversations. HBO is positioning its version of Scenes From a Marriage as a "re-imagining", which means that it shouldn't fastidiously stick to the original's beats, and it'll also jump to contemporary times. It'll still explore love, hatred, desire, monogamy, marriage and divorce, though. As the just-dropped full trailer shows, it's obviously going to get emotional.
Writer/director Hagai Levi (In Treatment, The Affair) does the honours behind the lens — and you'll be able to watch and stream the full series via Foxtel in Australia from Monday, September 13, with new episodes airing weekly
And yes, thanks to not just The White Lotus, but to everything from Watchmen, Chernobyl and The Undoing to I Know This Much Is True and Mare of Easttown, HBO has had a particularly great run with its miniseries recently. Obviously, that's yet another reason to be excited about Scenes From a Marriage, too.
Check out the trailer below:
Scenes From a Marriage will screen on and stream via Foxtel in Australia from Monday, September 13.