History Film / MarriageStory

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: PlayedWith with Nora. At first, she is shown to be hard-nosed, hard hitting, and takes a few shots below the belt against Charlie when in court, but outside of that setting she is nothing but polite to him, even complimenting his work as a director, and everything she does is done seemingly because she begins to view Nicole as a friend and not just a client. But then [[spoiler:she goes against Nicole's wishes and gets her a 55/45 split in custody over Henry]], primarily so she could say she beat Jay.

* IWishedYouWereDead: During their massive fight, Charlie basically says to Nicole that he wishes she would die. [[BrokenTears He immediately breaks down in remorse]].

* WhatTheHellHero: The blowout fight between Nicole and Charlie is essentially each of them delivering a barrage of these against the other.
* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: Charlie had a short-lived affair with another woman when Nicole had stopped having sex with him for nearly a year]].

* ExtremeDoormat: Nicole. She allowed her mother to control her life, she allowed her husband to control it from then on and ultimately ends up under the full control of her divorce lawyer. Under each of those "guidances" she does things she doesn't want, but doesn't protest or try to speak her mind, instead just going with the flow. Just watch her scenes with Nora.

* InformedAbility: Henry is supposed to be a smart kid. He can't read, despite being 9 by the time the story wraps, an ability that's assumed to be a norm by that age.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Nora is hard-nosed, hard hitting, and takes a few shots below the belt against Charlie when in court, but outside of that setting she is nothing but polite to him, even complimenting his work as a director, and everything she does, [[spoiler:including going against Nicole's wishes and getting her an extra day with Henry]], is done because she begins to view Nicole as a friend and not just a client.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Everything is everything in a relationship."'']]

''Marriage Story'' is a Netflix {{dramedy}} directed by Creator/NoahBaumbach, starring Creator/AdamDriver and Creator/ScarlettJohansson.

* RuleOfSymbolism: We see Charlie on Halloween twice: once, he's dressed as Film/TheInvisibleMan and once he's a BedsheetGhost. Neither bode well for his continued involvement in Henry's life.

* ShoutOut: On his first Halloween separate, Charlie dresses as ''Film/TheInvisibleMan'' and wants his son to dress as ''Film/Frankenstein1931''.

* SympatheticPOV: Shifts heavily to Charlie's hardship toward the middle and ending of the film, when most of the tension is building.

* ItsAllAboutMe: ''Both'' Charlie and Nicole are painfully self-centered and narcissistic in their behaviour and decision-making. The only subject they are capable of making any sort of compromises is Henry - not due to ability to step down, but realisation of how destructive it could be for his well-being.

* RealityEnsues: Charlie's case for getting primary custody of Henry is that they were [[InsistentTerminology "a New York family"]], but Nicole and both of Charlie's lawyers repeatedly point out that there's little evidence to support this notion beyond Charlie's assumptions. [[spoiler:Ultimately, he does not receive primary custody for these oft-highlighted reasons.]]

** Creator/ScarlettJohansson plays an actress who was previously very well known for her MsFanservice roles earlier in her career and who has now graduated into doing more serious work. While this isn't an exact reflection of Johansson's career, she has been for a long time typecast in MsFanservice roles, such as ''Film/MatchPoint'', ''Film/{{Lucy}}'', and ''Film/VickyCristinaBarcelona'', alongside less mainstream and more edgy work like ''Film/LostInTranslation'', ''Film/JojoRabbit'', and ''Film/UnderTheSkin'', with her career also starting as a teenager.

* NeverLiveItDown: While Nicole has gained great acclaim in some circles as a stage actress, she is still primarily known to the public as "that lady who showed her tits in that movie".

* ParentalFavoritism: Henry is shown to generally favor Nicole over Charlie, though it's portrayed as simply being due to him being a little rather kid than anything deeper.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Charlie is actually a NiceGuy and loves Nicole very much. It's just that he assumes that she is happy with what makes him happy--for example, the fact that they live in New York and not Los Angeles. It's not until the divorce proceedings bring to the fore what Nicole wants out of life that Charlie realises that his assumptions may have been incorrect.

* BookEnds: The film opens with Charlie and Nicole explaining why they love each other via voiceover to the audience. This manifests as writings the two are to read to each other at marriage counseling; Nicole staunchly refuses to read hers, which forms a lack of unity that invalidates the whole process. [[spoiler:Towards the end, Charlie stumbles upon Nicole's writing when he sees Henry obliviously sounding his way through it, and slowly breaks down while reading it for the first time as Nicole watches from the doorway, in tears herself.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The opening features the two main characters reading lists they've written as an exercise for their marriage counselor in which they tell what they like best about each other. They each list being "competitive" as something good about the other person.

* SarcasticTitle: The marriage is already over before the film begins; the film is about a divorce.

* CrusadingLawyer: Nora has shades of this, seeming largely motivated by fighting against the double standard, and Nicole's tirade about Charlie's faults, while still remaining relatively restrained until he brings in Jay Motta.

* ExtremeDoormat: Nicole. She allowed her mother to control her life, she allowed her husband to control it from then on and ultimately ends up in full control of her divorce lawyer. Under each of those "guidances" she does things she doesn't want, but doesn't protest or try to speak her mind, instead just going with the flow. Just watch her scenes with Nora.

* MoodWhiplash: A tense argument about whether or not the family lives in New York abruptly breaks when a paralegal asks if they should order lunch and everyone discusses their orders, and Nora and Bret compliment Charlie's play before they get to arguing again.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The executive handling to Nicole the number to a divorce attorney. So far, the divorce was an internal affair going on its slow, gradual pace, with no hard feelings and not getting bankrupt (or robbing Henry's education funds). Everything goes to hell once Nicole gets in touch with Nora.

* IWishedYouWereDead: During their massive fight, Charlie basically says to Nicole that he wishes she would die. [[BrokenTears He immediately breaks down in remorse]].