Wege zur guten Ehe: A weird little time capsule

Is it worth your time?

If you like film history or just have a weird fascination with how people used to try and 'solve' human emotion with science, sure. Give it a go. If you want a romantic comedy or a heavy drama, you’re going to be bored to tears. This movie has the pacing of a slow-moving lecture, which, honestly, is exactly what it is. 😴

The whole thing feels like a weird experiment. It’s trying to be a story, but every few minutes, it remembers it’s supposed to be educational. The result is a movie that stops dead in its tracks just so a doctor can explain the 'correct' way to behave. It’s not exactly the kind of stuff you'd find in Until the Day We Meet Again, which at least keeps its focus on the people.

Oddly clinical

There’s a scene where the characters are just standing around talking about marital dynamics like they’re discussing a broken toaster. It’s bizarre. You can see the actors trying to inject some life into these very stiff lines, but the script is just too busy trying to be a textbook.

The lighting is stark, almost like a medical documentary. It’s funny because, in a way, it is a medical documentary. It feels like the director was more afraid of being 'wrong' than being 'interesting.'

• The furniture in these scenes is nicer than the acting.
• The way they frame the arguments feels so rigid.
• I spent five minutes wondering if the wallpaper was original.

It’s not as dark as something like O Crime de Paula Matos, but it has this strange, cold energy. You get the sense that the filmmakers were terrified of being too human. They wanted to be modern, which is ironic because the movie feels like a relic from a lost planet.

Some of the performances are just... fine. They aren't trying to win awards, they're just trying to get through the dialogue without stumbling over the medical jargon. It’s a very specific type of period piece. You watch it, you nod, you get a little bit confused, and then you move on. It’s not going to change your life, but it’s definitely not like anything else I've watched recently. 🎞️