Kaudet(3) / Jaksot(37)
Juonikuvaukset(1)
Couples Therapy unlocks a hidden world: other people’s relationships. Far from reality-show caricatures, this is true documentary filmmaking that brings viewers into the authentic and visceral experience of weekly therapy with four couples. (Showtime)
Arvostelut (1)
Over the course of a number of months, several couples have been going to the kind of therapist that everyone would want (extremely empathetic, listens well, asks pertinent questions at the right time). Just one room, a lot of emotions and words and numerous camera angles. The individual sessions are interlinked by illustrative scenes from the clients’ lives. The composition of the couples is quite diverse (straight and queer, married eleven years, together only two years, different social classes) and they deal with such varied issues that you will surely find “yours” among them: projecting of one’s own anxieties onto their partner, fading sexual attraction, alcoholism, parenting, disconnection from one’s own emotions. Based on the precise editing, thanks to which we are able to see every action and reaction and to perceive the slightest change of mood in the room, and the smooth continuity of the individual shots, it comes across as a scripted series. In reality, it is a documentary directed with tremendous sensitivity, and the participants went into it with the intention of showing the broader public how couples therapy works. Thanks also to the self-reflective conversations between the therapist and her supervisor, I think that after watching it you will actually have a relatively clear idea about that (unlike the dramatically embellished impression given by the Czech series Terapie) and you may come to a few important realisations. If you are not interested in educating yourself in the area of communication in relationships, there is still a decent chance that Couples Therapy will draw you in like a detective show in which a trio of people use questions and answers to peel back the layers and work their way down to the roots of the invisible violence that we inflict on ourselves and others every day. I’m looking forward to the third season, because it's terribly addictive and Orna Guralnik has a wonderful dog.
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