Box office Although Netflix does not publicly disclose the theatrical grosses of all of its films,
IndieWire estimated
Marriage Story grossed around $160,000 from five theaters over its opening weekend (and a total of $200,000 over its first five days). The site wrote that "normally, these (estimated) numbers would be disappointing," but, "given the theaters and more limited seating, as well as awareness of imminent streaming access within the month", it was sufficient for Netflix. Playing at 16 theaters the following weekend, the film made an estimated $140,000, and then it made $340,000 from 85 theaters its third weekend. Expanding to 130 theaters for its fourth weekend of release, the film made $360,000, for a month-long running total of $1.2 million. The following weekend, despite being released digitally onto Netflix that Friday, the film made an estimated $300,000 from 120 theaters, and then $120,000 from 80 theaters the following week. In all,
Marriage Story grossed an estimated $2 million at the North American box office, and $333,686 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $2.3 million.
Alonso Duralde of
TheWrap praised the acting and Baumbach's screenplay, saying: "One wonders if Baumbach left references to
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) or
Two for the Road (1967) on the cutting-room floor, but either way,
Marriage Story is a film that deserves to be mentioned in their company. It's devastating, essential, and destined to be remembered long after this awards cycle ends." In his review for
The Hollywood Reporter, Jon Frosch concurred, writing: "Other American films about divorce have portrayed this phenomenon — the legal process driving and shaping the couple's feelings rather than vice versa — but none with the force and clarity of this one [...] It's also funny and, when you least expect it (and most need it), almost unbearably tender, thanks in large part to the sensational leads, who deliver the deepest, most alive and attuned performances of their careers." Rating the film 5 stars out of 5,
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian called it a "wonderfully sweet, sad and funny film" that serves as a "glorious laugh-out-loud, cry-out-loud portrait of a relationship in its death throes" and praised the performances of the cast. Writing for
The Washington Post,
Ann Hornaday gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 and praised Johansson and Driver as the "two-person fulcrum around which this funny-sad, happy-harrowing film revolves." In a mixed review,
GQs David Levesley opined that the film was "fundamentally, a good piece of cinema", but disliked the unacknowledged upper-class privilege that the characters possessed, commenting: "The world of third-wave coffee, delicatessens and Upper West Side therapy has been done to death and does not speak to as much of the human condition as the people wading through it themselves seem to think."
Armond White of
The National Review also panned the film's bourgeois themes and the lead actors' performances, writing: "This story is really about class rivalry clouded by a sex-and-cinema surface. The obnoxious sentimentality of
Marriage Story forces a filmmaker's self-righteousness on us [...] It is Johansson and Driver who suffer Baumbach's superficiality. This is his least-bad film only because the quality of the performances [of the supporting cast] is improved."
Internet memes Since its release,
Marriage Story has become the subject of repeated
internet memes. In 2025, it was revealed that the
US Department of Agriculture in Oregon was using drones, playing audio footage of the film's central argument scene, to deter wolves from attacking livestock. According to
Wired, an
Internet meme of Adam Driver punching a wall during Charlie and Nicole's argument scene has contributed to "re-contextualizing Charlie and Nicole's fight into something light and silly". Driver punching a wall has been repurposed to represent general arguments over trivial matters in which a participant becomes angry and overreacts.
Accolades Marriage Story was chosen by the
American Film Institute, the
National Board of Review, and
Time magazine as one of the ten best films of the year. It received a leading six nominations (including for
Best Motion Picture – Drama) at the
77th Golden Globe Awards, with Dern winning
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. The film received eight nominations at the
25th Critics' Choice Awards, three nominations at the
26th Screen Actors Guild Awards (for the performances of Driver, Johansson, and Dern), five nominations at the
73rd British Academy Film Awards, and six nominations at the
92nd Academy Awards. Dern won the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film.
Time Magazine's annual best performances of the year list by
Stephanie Zacharek listed Driver's performance as the third best film acting performance of 2019. ==References==