Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac bring raw intensity to a flawed 'Scenes From a Marriage'

Although loosely adapted from director Ingmar Bergman's 1973 Swedish miniseries, "Scenes From a Marriage" bears a close resemblance in style and tone to "In Treatment," another HBO series dreamt up by Israeli producer Hagai Levi, who presides over this. Claustrophobic and intense, the format provides a strong actor's showcase for Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac but a less satisfying experience for viewers.

The five-part series employs an interesting and somewhat puzzling device, in each episode showing the actors before filming begins under Covid protocols, walking through the set surrounded by masked crew members. It's a way of establishing the theatrical qualities of the presentation, although aside from appreciating the extra degree of difficulty, essentially an unnecessary device. The premiere then proceeds to introduce Mira (Chastain) and Jonathan (Isaac), married for almost a decade with a young daughter.