MODERN LOVE: It Will Bring Joy to Your Life

It is only eight half-hour episodes in Season 1, but how much joy they bring! The miniseries Modern Love easily surpasses most romantic productions that appear each year in cinemas. And although the whole thing is incredibly warm and uplifting, do not think that these are just easy and pleasant tales. The subject matter of most installments is by no means trivial.

Unlike much of Hollywood’s romantic comedies, Modern Love is believable. Truth emanates from the screen, even if the plots of some episodes seem bizarre. After all, this series is based on the weekly column The New York Times describing contemporary love stories. We have a middle-aged couple on the verge of separation, a journalist conducting an interview with the creator of a dating app who is himself experiencing romantic turmoil, a gay couple adopting the child of a mentally unstable homeless woman, a young woman seeking a father figure instead of a partner, and an elderly woman suffering after the loss of her husband. In these eight episodes we get a full cross-section of today’s various forms of love, but none of them is presented in a banal way or relies on tired clichés.

The director and writer of half the episodes is John Carney, the creator of, for example, Once, Sing Street, or Begin Again. Those who have had the chance to watch those productions already know what to expect from Modern Love. I did not need to know anything more about the series, because I genuinely love everything this gentleman has created. I knew I had to familiarize myself with this title—you could say I was hardly disappointed.

A fun fact is that one of the episodes was directed by the actress Emmy Rossum, known for Shameless and The Phantom of the Opera. She also handled it quite well, although the script she worked on was certainly a challenge.

Only one episode does not match the standard of the others. Something did not work there, neither in the story itself, which is not very compelling, nor in the characters. You could say that within thirty minutes we watch two completely separate storylines and there was not enough time to make them sincere and moving.

It is all the more unfortunate that this particular episode (for those interested, number two) featured the largest number of stars, namely the Academy Award–nominated trio Dev Patel, Catherine Keener, and Andy Garcia.

While choosing the weakest installment posed no problem, several episodes are already in contention for the title of best.

Very touching, yet absolutely neither cheap nor formulaic, is the final episode, featuring a truly outstanding performance by four-time Academy Award nominee Jane Alexander. Someone might say that the loss of a loved one is a perpetually recycled theme on screen—and that is true. However, it can be portrayed in a unique way, and this is exactly such a case.

Also wonderful is the episode featuring Anne Hathaway, which shows how difficult it is for people with bipolar disorder to find love and understanding. It so happens that among the people closest to me is someone who struggles with bipolar disorder, and it was with that person that I watched this installment of the series. We both agreed that John Carney achieved something great by accurately presenting, in such a short time, what this illness entails. This is not only a beautifully, imaginatively directed episode with Hathaway’s performance as great as ever, but I also believe it is an unobtrusive educational mission.

I really regret that Season 1 ended so quickly.

After all, the topic of contemporary love is like a river; there could have been more episodes. I wholeheartedly recommend this Amazon production to you, even if you do not normally enjoy romantic stories. First, these are different—they are in some way both true and unusual. Second, each episode is only about thirty minutes long, and the stories are not connected (apart from a pleasant epilogue)—consider it a delightful diversion, for example after a hard day when it is late anyway and you will soon want to go to bed. I guarantee that you will fall asleep in a better mood!