The Truth About Marriage

As a young millennial man, the question of marriage, kids and the whole traditional life is something that I think about a lot. Is it feasible money wise? Timewise? Is it sensible?

In Nygard's film, we are given access to a wide breadth of people - relationship experts, evolutionary scientists, sex therapists, and of course real people in relationships who tackle the big questions surrounding Marriage. The film exposes both the highs and the lows, while also illustrating more modern, atypical relationships too, all while keeping a great sense of humour about it. Fun, insightful, and truly illuminating, this is the kind of movie you may want to rewatch and will definitely want your friends...or maybe even Significant Other to see :)

I had the pleasure of seeing The Truth About Marriage at the LA Film Festival back in 2019. I didn't know what to expect going into it but it turned out to be by far my favorite documentary to screen that year and one of the overall funniest movies I've seen in years. The film is educational, witty, punny and laugh-out-loud enjoyable at times. At only 80 minutes it moves at a great pace and there's never a dull moment. The filmmaker arrives at some obvious and also some not-so-obvious and surprising conclusions, which help dive the entertainment factor. Did I also mention it's hilarious? Overall this is a 10/10 and I highly recommend it.

This compelling documentary does a fantastic job guiding us through the complex, confusing, and often misunderstood world of what comprises a successful marriage.

By watching this film, I discovered multiple secrets I was not aware of, thanks to the broad range of experts (and regular people with tips and stories of their own). I sort of feel like I had therapy I didn't know I needed, given to me by a group of friends I didn't know I had.

Everyone is different, and every marriage is unique. Through the course of this film, we get a wide range of situations, challenges, and solutions.

I highly recommend this movie. If you have questions about your own marriage it will answer at least half of them!

Marriage is something surreal, people tend to make marriages last based on a partnership more than sex or more than a spark. It is cheaper to not get married and just have manybpartners around, one does not get obssesed and can be free and enjoybfreedom. But the chemestry of regular people is different woman do not understand or play too hard, they think they are the boss but actually they are ones looking for it.

Afection is different than anything else. And that is the magic key. I hope i get the love of my life but she has to be independent and be my partner, sex is important they say. There is the example of the russian H that gets married with a rich brother and then dumps him. U dont wanna be him.

"The Truth About Marriage" (2018 release; 82 min.) is a documentary about the challenges posed by marriage and all what comes with it. As the movie opens, we are dropped in the middle of a conversation with a marriage counselor, as if it's in the middle of the movie. Without any further backfround or context, the film makers go from one talking head to the next at a dizzying pace. Along the way we pick up on the fact that marriage for love is a fairly new phenomenon: marriage has been around for about 5,000 years, but marriage for love only for about 150 years. At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from writer/producer/editor/director Roger Nygard, best known for "Trekkies" and "Trekkies 2". Here he reports on the state of marriage in today's society. In and of itself an interesting tropic, except that what I watched was NOT AT ALL what I had expected: the tale of 3 couples who have been married some years now, and what has become of that marriage. Yes, it is in the documetnary, buried midway through, and covering about 15 min. but tjat is it. The rest is a non-stop parade of talking heads expressing their views of love and marriage and the power struggle that comes along with marriage. I must admit, this barely kept my attention, and it's a good thing this didn't last longer than 1 hr. 20 min. as I don't knwo I would've made it to the end. Bottom line: I was frankly misled into thiking this would follow 3 couples struggling with marriage (not unlike, say ,the excellent "Couples Therapy" documentary series on Showtime). It is anything but that, I am sorry to report and this wasn't worth my time.

"The Truth About Marriage" premiered in 2018 and is now widely available on a number of streaming services. If you are interested in the state of marriage in today's society, I'd suggest you check this out, with limited expectations, and draw your own conclusion.