Category Archives: Failing Marriage

2011, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action sequences, Ageing parent, Amazon Prime Brit Box, Based on a Book, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, British Police, Car Chase, Career Criminal, Clever Plot, Complicated, Contract Killing, Corrupt policemen, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Crime thriller, Death of a child, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Fight Scenes, Flirting, Forensics, Gambling, Grim, Grisly, Gritty, Hopeless Love, Human trafficking, Infuriating, Lawyers, Love Story, Mourning, Murder, Murder Trial, Pedophilia, Plot twists, Poker, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychiatrists, Romance, Sad ending, Single Mother, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, Trial Scenes, Upsetting ending, Violent

DCI Banks (2011)

From IMDB:

The tenacious and stubborn DCI Banks unravels disturbing murder mysteries aided by his young assistants, DS Annie Cabbot and DI Helen Morton.

From Amazon Prime Brit Box (or just independently Brit Box) you can stream 5 seasons of this outstandingly tense British crime series. Almost all complete stories require two consecutive episodes.  All seasons contain 6 episodes (i.e 3 stories) where each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Season 1 contains 7 episodes because the first episode is the pilot called “Aftermath”. PLEASE DO NOT WATCH this episode because it is so ugly that you might not want to watch the rest of the series. Indeed the crimes in all the stories are disturbing but season 1 episode 1 is especially nasty.

Detectives Alan Banks, Annie Cabbot, and Helen Morton are  present throughout.  Alan falls in love with Annie and a constant theme is whether they will ever get together. Alan’s father is always an annoyance. Shaun Dooley plays a wonderfully infuriating evil criminal Steve Richards.

Kathy and I eagerly ploughed through all 30 episodes, exclaiming after each story “Wow!”  In fact in one sitting we always watched two episodes making one complete story.

DO NOT MISS!

2021, Binge worthy, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Cocaine, DO NOT MISS, Everybody lies, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Farm Life, Gay theme, Homophobia, Marital Infidelity, Melodrama, Milk Farming, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Rape Victim, Sex Scenes, Soap Opera, Suicide, Swiss German, Swiss Soap Opera

New Heights [Neumatt] (2021)

From IMDB:

Michi is a successful consultant in Zurich. But a phone call changes everything. His father took his own life. Together with his mother and two siblings, Michi must now decide between his own career or saving the family farm.

From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of season 1 of this award-winning Swiss soap opera centering around milk farming in Switzerland. Each episode lasts about 48 minutes. “Neumatt” is the Swiss title for this series which is notable for the fact that the original language is Swiss German.  Season 2 is supposed to be released in spring 2023.

According to Wikipedia :  “Netflix will offer the series in 30 languages and in 190 countries worldwide.” Now is your change to hear Swiss German. Choose from a slew of languages for subtitles.

“Neumatt” is the name of the family milk farm of the Wyss family.  Farming is an arduous, difficult life for which not everyone is suited.  In one of the companies for which I worked there was a fellow employee who grew up on a North Dakota farm. He loathed the life and fled. Similarly in the Wyss family the son Michi and daughter Sarah also fled to other careers while the mother Trudi, son Lorenz (LoLo), grandmother, and father remain on the struggling, almost bankrupt farm.  Is it any wonder the father commits suicide?

Julian Koechlin (Michi) and Marlise Fischer (Trudi) received the Prix Swissperform as “Best Leading Actor” as “Best Supporting Actress” in the first season of Neumatt as part of the 57th Solothurn Film Festival.

Make no mistake, this series is a SOAP OPERA.  But I could not stop watching, no matter how harrowing the lives of the characters became.  And if season two ever comes along, you can be sure I will be there rooting for Michi and Lorenzo.

If you are willing to endure a series that sometimes seems to go on forever, then

DO NOT MISS!

2022, Acceptable for teenagers, Bullying, Detective, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Fatherless child, Flirting, French, French Detectives, French Mystery, Longsuffering wife, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Occasionaly violent, Revenge, Small Town, Suspense

A Long Lost Silence (2022)

From IMDB:

During the summer, Jules, 10 years old, is welcomed by a young couple in the countryside, because his mother had an accident. How to feel at home in a village where its inhabitants are shaken by deep antagonisms?

From MHz Choice:

French thriller about a 10-year-old boy encountering secrets among the people who’ve taken him in for the summer.

From MHz Choice you can stream this 3 episode French mystery thriller. Each episode lasts no more than 55 minutes.  The French title is “Les Hautes Herbes”. English subtitles are provided.

Jules, the 10 year old center of attention, hardly ever speaks. But his glances and stares speak volumes as he watches the adults around him misbehave in various ways.  When episode 3 reveals the killer, things get very tense.

Lots of contention between characters and  emotional scenes make this very French film watchable.

 

2011, Adopted child, Alzheimer's disease, Amusing banter, Baby Selling, Baby snatching, Blackmail, British Drama, British Mystery Series, Cocaine, Comic Moments, Conspiracy, Corrupt Care Givers, Corrupt policemen, Corrupt Politicians, Dark family secrets, DO NOT MISS, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failed Father, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Family Secrets, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Flashbacks, Friendship, Illegitimate Child, Journalist, Marital Infidelity, Mental Institution, Nudity, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Physical child abuse, Plot Twist, Rape, Sad small town, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Vulgar

Exile (2011)

From PBS Passport:

Tom Ronstadt’s world has fallen apart. Tom returns to his hometown and begins to unravel the mystery that drove him away years ago, unaware that he is unearthing a devastating crime that will reveal secrets he could never have imagined.

From PBS Passport you can stream the 3 episodes of this mystery drama series. Each episode lasts about an hour.

With a cast of British actors “to die for”, you cannot go wrong:

  • Tom Ronstadt (played by John Simm) is a washed-up reporter who returns to his hometown where he finds that
  • his sister Nancy (played by Olivia Colman) has devoted her life to caring for
  • her father (played by Jim Broadbent) who is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Tom, ever on the prowl, hooks up with the barmaid Mandy Eldridge  (played by Claire Goose) who turns out to be the wife of
  • Mike Eldridge (played by Shaun Dooley) who was Tom’s best buddy while they were growing up.
  • Mike works for Metzler (played by Timothy West) who, we learn bit by bit, is a horrible but well disguised monster.

Only warning in sight: Expect a constant stream of vulgar banter.

Sound intriguing?  Expect shocking plot revelations.

DO NOT MISS!

2022, Abduction, Action sequences, Bloody scenes, British Drama, Bullying, Burglars, Creepy, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Failed Father, Failing Marriage, Father-son relations, Fight Scenes, Gay theme, Grisly, Jealousy, Missing Person, Monstrous Father, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Police Investigation, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Thriller, Torture, Violent

I Came By (2022)

From IMDB:

Follows a young graffiti artist who discovers a shocking secret that would put him and the ones closest to him in danger.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 50 minute serial killer thriller.

As serial killer stories go, this one is fairly original and never proceeds quite as you might hope or expect. Earlier formulas need not apply.  Try not to get attached to any character in particular because that person might just disappear.

Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame plays the upper-class retired judge serial killer who never seems to lose his composure when threatened by exposure.  If  you want to portray a true psychopath, never show emotion, especially empathy.  Does that make it easier to act in such an acting role?

Will he ever get caught?  If you are  into serial killers, and ONLY if, then DO NOT MISS!

2016, Abduction, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Adultery, Art as worthless fakery, Art Gallery, Author, Bullying, Cancer theme, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crude Talk, Cynical, Dark, Depression, Detective, Disrespect toward women, Disturbing Image, Eccentric Detective, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Extremely Violent, Failed Marriage, Failing Marriage, Grim, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Psychopath, Rape, Romance, Ruthless Killer, Serial rapist, Social class differences, Suspense, Tragedy, Unhappy Ending, Upsetting ending, Violent, Vulgar

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

From Netflix:

Reading her ex-husband’s violent novel manuscript destabilizes gallery owner Susan’s life, upending her present while digging up their past.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 56 minute complete film.

WARNING:  Almost certainly you will find this extremely violent film upsetting.  In addition the  opening videos of an especially obese naked woman are  quite revolting.

However, as usual, Jake Gyllenhaal delivers his usual impassioned performance.  Just don’t try and sleep afterwards.

Basically the entire film is a downer:

  • Amy Adams as Susan Morrow has reached the pinnacle of an unhappy life.  Her failing faux-modern art gallery features worthless but expensive junk.   She rejected the real love of her life, Tony Hastings. Her second marriage to Hutton Marrow is a lonely empty shell.
  • Armie Hammer as Hutton Morrow is the handsome, suave, and habitually unfaithful second husband.
  • Laura Linney as Susan’s mother Anne Sutton plays the completely materialistic, domineering Texan society matron.
  • Michael Shannon is the tough, chain-smoking lawman who is dying of metastasized cancer.
  • Jake Gyllenhaal is Susan’s first husband, a writer whom Susan loved but discarded as impractical.
  • Robert Aramayo as Turk.  His portrayal of a violent, psychopathic alpha thug is pitch perfect.

What!!! You still want to see this movie?

 

2007, Complicated, Confusing Time Sequence, Drama, Failing Marriage, Fatal Accident, Father-daughter relations, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Religious "solution", Suspense

Premonition (2007)

From Netflix:

One day, a woman learns that her husband has died suddenly in a car crash. But the next day, he reappears as if nothing ever happened.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 36 minute complete film.

Prepare to be possibly as confused as poor Linda. Sandra Bullock (as Linda Hanson) lives a week’s days out of order.  Before disaster strikes (or maybe afterwards) she tries valiantly to figure out what is happening.  It doesn’t help that her husband Julian McMahon (as Jim Hanson) keeps dying or disappearing and then reappearing.

Sandra Bullock started appearing in comedy films. She then switched to serious roles. While nothing especially memorable, I have yet to see one of her films that I did not enjoy, including this particular movie.

Forget some technical flaws (see IMDB for a list of the goofs), and just enjoy.

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Anti-Semitism, Attempted Rape, Attempted Suicide, Bloody scenes, Bullying, Career Competition, Conspiracy, Corrupt Military, Detective, Drama, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Forensics, Jewish Culture, Mental Illness, Mild Torture, Military, Military Corruption, Military School, Mother-son relations, Murder by poison, Old-Fashioned, PBS Masterpiece Streaming, Police Politics, Portraiture, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychopath, Psychotic Attacks, Sadism, Self-harm, Spiritualist, Suspense, Vienna of 1900, Violent

Vienna Blood (2019)

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From PBS Streaming:

A student of Sigmund Freud and an Austrian detective team up to solve some of the most mysterious and deadly cases in early 1900s Vienna.

From PBS Masterpiece Streaming you can watch 6 episodes, each lasting about 45 minutes.  Each of the three stories encompasses 2 episodes.

Changes were happening in 1900s Vienna.   Oskar Reinhardt is an Austrian detective who, when the series begins, is used to old-school methods that can involve using violence against suspects.  Little by little he adapts to using the newer methods of Max Liebermann. Max is a doctor working in a hospital run by a bully that is fond of using electrotherapy.  Max, as a student of Sigmund Freud, is more attuned to using psychological methods for understanding and curing his patients.

One important theme is Vienna’s virulent  antisemitism.  Max is the eldest son of an observant Jewish family.  As a subplot, Max is engaged to one woman (a Jewess) but falls in love with one of his patients (a gentile) whom he cured using Freudian methods.

Oskar is in constant mourning over the death of his young daughter. As a result his wife has at least temporarily left him.

In each of the 3 murder cases, Oskar stands fast against the prejudices and rush to judgement of his superiors.  Similarly Max stands fast against the malpractice of his own superiors.

Be at least warned that the third story leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Old-fashioned and well-done drama.

2020, Abduction, Action sequences, Amnesia, Bad Acting, Barely Acceptable Trash, Brother-Sister relations, Conspiracy, Corny, Detective, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Government cover-up, Government human experiment, Government mind-control, Human experimentation, Kidnapping, Lesbian Theme, Love Triangle, Marital Infidelity, Maudlin, Mother-son relations, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Often downright silly, Paranormal theme, Plane Disappearance, Religious Nonsense, Short-lived suspenseful episodes, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense

Manifest (2020)

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From Netflix:

When a plane mysteriously lands years after takeoff, the people onboard return to a world that has moved on without them and face strange, new realities.

From Netflix you can stream two seasons of this fairly awful series. Season 1 has 16 episodes and season 2 has 13 episodes.  Every single episode lasts exactly 42 minutes, which may have been the only technical achievement of the series.

Holy Maudlin!  There were enough tears shed during this slop opera to irrigate California.

Holy Unbelievable! Find yourself in a tight spot?  Just invent some miraculous paranormal intervention.

Holy Gullible! How on earth could I watch all 29 episodes expecting to be satisfied with the ending.  Perhaps it is because I LOVE TRASH.

MISS!

2021, Abduction, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Clever Plot, Controlling personality, Danish, Danish Detectives, Danish Police, Danish TV series, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Failed Father, Failing Marriage, Father-son relations, Gory, Mother-son relations, Profiler, Revenge, Sadism, Serial Killer, Suicide, Suspense, Torture, Unhappy Marriage, Violent, Wife leaves husband

Blinded: Those Who Kill (2021)

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From Amazon Prime:

Five years ago, a serial killer murdered three young men but was never found. Now, criminal profiler Louise Bergstein is asked by the terminally ill mother of a victim to help solve the case. Teaming up with the police, Louise discovers a distinct pattern to the killings-and the hunt only intensifies as the murderer strikes again in this Danish thriller. CONTAINS VIOLENCE AND GRAPHIC SCENES.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 8 episodes of this well-done Danish serial-killer series.  Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. English subtitles.

From the very beginning you know who the killer is: Peter is a father with son Johannes . Peter’s marriage has failed and his wife has moved to Singapore.  Louise and Karina are two of the detectives working to solve the case. Louise is a profiler who, in an original plot twist , completely fails to recognize as killer the handsome man whom she meets quite by accident, after which the plot thickens a bit.

Poor Johannes is baffled by the strange behavior of his father. Johannes sorely misses his mother but is prevented by his father Peter from seeing her.

Because Peter kidnaps and tortures his victims,  the crime photographs can be quite gory.  But because the series is done so well, if you can get past the ugliness, DO NOT MISS!