A seemingly boring marriage is full of surprises
Relationships are complex. This comes as no surprise to anyone in one. It is plainly obvious to people who have ended one, to those looking for one, or to someone just completely avoiding being in one.
However, The Lovers (2017) approaches this complexity without the clichés of the Hollywood romantic comedy — such as It’s
Complicated (2009). Taking an organic approach to the difficulties and the triumphs of any marriage, the film is a story of surprises.
With their son away at college, this middle-aged couple, Mary (Debra Winger) and Michael (Tracy Letts), surprises us with not one affair but two. Amongst the trappings of suburban rituals and stark offices, both Mary and Michael have extramarital relationships with artists. Mary often runs back to work late because she has had an afternoon embrace with Robert (Aidan Gillen), a writer. Similarly, Michael is repeatedly late for work because he has met Lucy (Melora Walters), a performer and ballet teacher, for a secret rendezvous.
The Lovers continues to astonish as the narrative introduces a suspenseful deadline. When their son, Joel (Tyler Ross), and his girlfriend, Erin (Jessica Sula), announce plans for a visit home, Mary and Michael feel separately compelled to delay seeking a divorce, much to the disappointment of their lovers. Nonetheless, they both insist that they will seek a divorce as soon as their son’s visit ends.
It comes as no surprise that this wife and husband are each desiring a divorce in secret. Beyond the affairs, the suburban environment of their home life is a bland landscape of bourgeois excess. They spend their days inventing a series of excuses and lies, and they spend time together barely carrying a conversation as they send intimate text messages to their lovers.
With Joel’s visit pending and amidst this dull home life, The
Lovers surprises once again as, to their amazement, Mary and Michael rediscover a spark assumed to be long lost. Given their entanglement in extramarital relationships, perhaps the most difficult thing now for Mary and Michael is to find time to be together.
The Lovers becomes emotional chaos as this network of feelings and desires is revealed to have unwanted effects on many, including the couple’s son Joel. As Joel struggles to come to terms with his parents and their marriage, he is shocked to see them embracing as lovers.
Joel’s shock, as well as the increasingly emotional instability of Lucy and Robert, sets off a chaotic series of events around a visit that both Mary and Michael try their best to keep relaxed. As Mary tries to convince her son that they are “not bad people,” we come to question if anyone’s actions can be clearly labelled good or bad.
Who do we blame those who fall out of love? Certainly, Joel is quick to see his father in a negative light and his mother as a victim, but The
Lovers challenges us to see two people just trying to live their life and navigate their desires.
This story is compelling because its approach feels so organic. We are surprised many times in this film, which is one of the greatest powers of love: to shock, to amaze, to astonish, and to leave us wondering what to do now. The Lovers is an honest expression of love and contemporary relationships with moments as new as a first kiss. While we all may know that relationships are complex, this story keeps us in anticipation as we wonder what these lovers will do to surprise us next.