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Movie Review : No Ordinary Love

Trigger Warning: Intimate partner violence

We are a society that likes to make our most private thoughts and details public.

We take scantily clad selfies, post photos of our meals, and share our darkest 3 a.m. thoughts for all the world to see. Yet, one of the things we rarely discuss is intimate partner violence.

Nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused on average by an intimate partner in the United States. This equates to more than 10 million women and men during the course of a year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

No Ordinary Love , written and directed by Chyna Robinson and released earlier this month, seeks to promote a national conversation about the silent epidemic of intimate partner violence. The award-winning film explores the various strands of domestic abuse, the reasons why some women stay, and the deadly consequences of such a decision.

The film stars DeAna Davis, Lynn Andrews III, April Hartman and Eric Hanson. It’s available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play and Microsoft.

“I wrote it to answer the question, ‘why doesn’t she leave?’” Robinson said. “I wanted survivors to feel seen and believed. I wanted to show what it’s really like in those relationships, based on the conversations I had with the women (survivors).”

A graduate of Texas Christian University in radio, film, and TV production, Robinson is skilled in creating nuanced films about social issues. Her short film, Greenwood , about a veteran and his family defending their home during the 1921 onslaught of Black Wall Street and its destruction won multiple film festival awards.

Robinson returns to the same approach in depicting intimate partner violence in No Ordinary Love.

Unlike most Hollywood movies that gorge on the physical side of intimate partner violence, No Ordinary Love delves into the issue’s complexities as represented by two couples. A Black woman endures physical abuse at the hands of her police officer husband who struggles with the tension between race and policing. A white woman experiences increasingly violent spiritual abuse from her husband, a pastor. He uses the Bible, traditional Christian teachings, and a conservative worldview inhabited by him and his family to subjugate and abuse his wife.

“I wanted to show the cycle of abuse across the board,” Robinson said. “The police officer and his wife had a great night (in the film). It’s like okay, they are a regular, great couple. The pastor was narcissistic. Coercive control is real. It’s as damaging as any form of abuse.”

As a matter of disclosure, the film triggered me. My mother left my father after years of domestic abuse. It was difficult to watch No Ordinary Love because the film toggled between the stories of each woman with little opportunity for the audience to catch its breath.

“We wanted the stories to collide,” Robinson said when I asked her about the interlocking scenes. “You have an hour and 40 minutes. We wanted the audience to experience different emotions. At film festivals, people were yelling at the screen.”

As a romantic thriller, No Ordinary Love seeks to inform as well as entertain. While intimate partner violence disproportionately affects women, men have a role to play in stopping the violence, Robinson said.

“Other men need to step up and call these other men out,” she said. “It’s a matter of having the conversation, which is why we made this movie. We want to do our part in continuing the conversation.”

Please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence. Advocates are available 24/7 to answer questions if you’re seeking resources, information, or questioning aspects of your relationship. Information is available in more than 200 languages. All calls are free and confidential.

  If it’s not safe for you to call or you don’t feel comfortable, you can also access a live chat service here .

***Photos courtesy of No Ordinary Love movie.

Kerra Bolton is a writer and filmmaker based in the Mexican Caribbean. In a former life, she was a political columnist; Director of Communications, Outreach, and Oppositional Research for the North Carolina Democratic Party; and founder of a boutique strategic communications firm.

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Film review: ‘No Ordinary Love’

Writer/director Chyna Robinson’s feature debut is a powerful indictment of spousal abuse.

Texas-based writer/director Chyna Robinson’s feature debut, No Ordinary Love is a stunning, no-punches-pulled look at the complicated relationships between husbands and wives — and how easily they can become abusive.

The film contrasts the lives of two different couples. Elizabeth (April Hartman) is married to Michael (Eric Hanson), an arrogant preacher who not only keeps her under his thumb — he’s crushing her with it. He constantly demeans her, complaining about her cooking, her looks, her lack of singing ability. Whenever she tries to fight back, however feebly, he throws a tantrum and blasts her for her lack of faith.

According to the Scriptures, he insists, women have been put on this earth to serve their men and obey their every order. And when she turns to his mother (Debbie Tucker) for consolation, the woman hollowly repeats the things her son has said. It’s a harrowing moment, right out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers . Of course, Mommy rushes to tell Michael, further incensing him.

Elizabeth recognizes another troubled soul in her husband’s congregation. Her name is Tanya (DeAna Anderson), and she’s likewise trapped in an abusive relationship with police officer husband, Derrick (Lynn Andrews III), that also includes physical abuse. Derrick can be overly affectionate, buying her gifts and telling her how much she means to him. When he’s drunk, however, he becomes violently ugly.

Clearly, the husbands haven’t always treated their wives this way, but their occasional moments of affection now seem forced and awkward.

When Tanya shows up at church with bruises on her face, she still denies that anything is wrong. But when she begins to fear for the safety of her young daughter, Faith (Nya Cummings), she finally turns to Elizabeth for help. Of course, each of their husbands become suspicious and feel betrayed — and the trouble escalates.

Chyna Robinson has a fine ear for dialogue; the words that these characters speak all ring true. “It’s not my story that I’m telling in the movie, but I was able to pull a lot from my own stories as far as being in relationships with manipulation or with coercive control to a certain degree… definitely a lot of myself is in that film,” the writer/director told the Texas Standard . She has also assembled a fine cast that convincingly follows the film’s tonal shifts as it grows increasingly dark.

Made in and around Fort Worth, the film looks and sounds terrific, with vivid cinematography by James Duhon and solid editing by Meagan Waggoner. The filmmakers clearly found resourceful ways to stretch the budget and make a “big” film.

No Ordinary Love is now available on VOD.

Feature photo: DeAna Anderson and Lynn Andrews III.

Kurt Gardner

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Review: No Ordinary Love (2019)

Last fall at the Indie Memphis Film Festival, I saw something that I never expected: A feminist Christian film. In the year that followed, I pondered the possibility of it being seen by a wider audience. How would mainstream Christian audiences respond to a film that questions the sexism that has been baked into the culture since the beginning? Eagerly, I waited for the film to find a distributor and be released in local Southern cinemas. Christian films often get more attention in the South, with Southern audiences making or breaking the film’s success.

Now, in 2020, I see that the road for director Chyna Robinson’s No Ordinary Love may be much more difficult than I anticipated. This fascinating Christian film tells the story of Elizabeth (April Hartman) a preacher’s wife trying to help a troubled woman (DeAna Davis) in her congregation. DeAna Davis plays Tanya, a devoted wife and mother being abused by her police officer husband Derrick (Lynn Andrews III). Her daughter Faith (Nya Cummings) is starting to pick up on the abuse, and it’s fear for her safety that pushes Tanya to seek help from Elizabeth. In one harrowing scene, Faith is playing dolls with her friend and uses the Ken doll to beat up the Barbie, while her mother watches from the hallway.

Simultaneously, Elizabeth is dealing with the sobering reality that her husband Michael (Eric Hanson) isn’t the upstanding man of God that he pretends to be. He begins verbally abusing Elizabeth, starting with criticizing her body and cooking, quickly escalating to breaking dishes and yelling at her in front of their son. At first, she’s in denial, but the more she tries to help Tanya the more she realizes that she is also in danger. As Elizabeth moves further and further away from her husband, she begins to realize the way men use Christian doctrine to demean women. Whenever Michael abuses her, he quotes the Bible, and when Elizabeth apposes him, he questions her faith.

As a girl growing up in the Southern Baptist church, I recognized Michael’s behavior all too well. He’s the kind of Christian that has been radicalized by Fox News and the GOP, believing that policing women and their bodies is his God-given right. In the film, when he witnesses a teenage boy catcall a woman, he excuses it, making a nonsensical reference to the Bible. And when Elizabeth denies him sex, he assaults her, asserting that it is her “wifely duty”. Though his tone is more measured than Derrick, his abuse is just as damaging.

In contrast to Michael, Derrick is much more physically brutal. But considering his role as a police officer, his hyper aggression makes depressing sense. He uses his profession as an excuse for his abuse, complaining about how hard it is to be a Black cop in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s upsetting that no one in the film challenges him on this if only to point out that as a Black man his choice to quit the force would be totally justified. But the truth is that Derrick loves wielding his power over his wife way too much to give it up. Of course, the department gives him cover whenever he’s caught hurting Tanya, and the court takes his side as well. All of these factors are true to life, and highlight how difficult it is for women to receive help from law enforcement.

At its heart, No Ordinary Love is an indictment of the various male behaviors that been rationalized by a conservative Christian society that refuses to view women as autonomous human beings. The ending of the film is a sobering one, reminding us of the women whose voices and bodies have been snuffed out in favor of a patriarchal interpretation of life and spirituality. Here’s hoping that men watch this film and reflect on their behavior, as well as the harmful behaviors they have encouraged throughout their lives. There are so many Tanyas and Elizabeths in the world and they deserve better.

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No Ordinary Love (2019)

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No Ordinary Love (2019)

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A film about intimate partner violence

Lines between romantic ideals and control become blurred when Tanya's husband can no longer handle the stress of his career as a police officer. His warm kisses turn cold, and she is left fighting for her life. At the same time, Elizabeth's idyllic life is marred when her charming husband manipulates her into believing that she is going insane. As Elizabeth counsels Tanya, she realizes the signs of abuse in her own marriage. When both women decide to leave, they realize it isn't going to go as smoothly as they'd planned. The escape they seek, turns deadly.

Chyna Robinson

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Matthew Jeffries

Draper Wynston

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Gerardo Davila

Sergeant Strawther

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No Ordinary Love Reviews

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Film Review: ‘No Ordinary Love’

Texas-based writer/director Chyna Robinson’s feature debut, No Ordinary Love is a stunning, no-punches-pulled look at the complicated relationships between husbands and wives — and how easily they can become abusive.

The film contrasts the lives of two different couples. Elizabeth (April Hartman) is married to Michael (Eric Hanson), an arrogant preacher who not only keeps her under his thumb — he’s crushing her with it. He constantly demeans her, complaining about her cooking, her looks,her lack of singing ability. Whenever she tries to fight back, however feebly, he throws a tantrum and blasts her for her lack of faith.

According to the Scriptures, he insists, women have been put on this earth to serve their men and obey their every order. And when she turns to his mother (Debbie Tucker) for consolation, the woman hollowly repeats the things her son has said. It’s a harrowing moment, right out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers . Of course, Mommy rushes to tell Michael, making him even angrier.

Elizabeth recognizes another troubled soul in her husband’s congregation. Her name is Tanya (DeAna Anderson), and she’s likewise trapped in an abusive relationship with police officer husband, Derrick (Lynn Andrews III), that also includes physical abuse. Derrick can be overly affectionate, buying her gifts and telling her how much she means to him. When he’s drunk, however, he becomes violently ugly.

Clearly, the husbands haven’t always treated their wives this way, but their occasional moments of affection now seem forced and awkward.

When Tanya shows up at church with bruises on her face, she still denies that anything is wrong, but when she begins to fear for the safety of her young daughter, Faith (Nya Cummings), she finally turns to Elizabeth for help. Of course, each of their husbands become suspicious and feel betrayed — and the trouble escalates.

Robinson has a fine ear for dialogue. The words that these characters speak all ring true. “It’s not my story that I’m telling in the movie, but I was able to pull a lot from my own stories as far as being in relationships with manipulation or with coercive control to a certain degree… definitely a lot of myself is in that film,” the director told the Texas Standard . She has also assembled a fine cast that convincingly follows the film’s tonal shifts as it grows increasingly dark.

Made in and around Fort Worth, the film looks and sounds terrific, with vivid cinematography by James Duhon and solid editing by Meagan Waggoner. The filmmakers clearly found resourceful ways to stretch the budget and make a “big” film.

No Ordinary Love is now available on VOD.

Feature photo: DeAna Anderson and Lynn Andrews III.

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Film Review: ‘No Ordinary Love’

Kurt Gardner June 24, 2021 Comments Off on Film Review: ‘No Ordinary Love’ 1,381 Views

Texas-based writer/director Chyna Robinson’s feature debut, No Ordinary Love is a stunning, no-punches-pulled look at the complicated relationships between husbands and wives — and how easily they can become abusive.

The film contrasts the lives of two different couples. Elizabeth (April Hartman) is married to Michael (Eric Hanson), an arrogant preacher who not only keeps her under his thumb — he’s crushing her with it. He constantly demeans her, complaining about her cooking, her looks, her lack of singing ability. Whenever she tries to fight back, however feebly, he throws a tantrum and blasts her for her lack of faith.

According to the Scriptures, he insists, women have been put on this earth to serve their men and obey their every order. And when she turns to his mother (Debbie Tucker) for consolation, the woman hollowly repeats the things her son has said. It’s a harrowing moment, right out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers . Of course, Mommy rushes to tell Michael, making him even angrier.

Elizabeth recognizes another troubled soul in her husband’s congregation. Her name is Tanya (DeAna Anderson), and she’s likewise trapped in an abusive relationship with police officer husband Derrick (Lynn Andrews III), that also includes physical abuse. Derrick can be overly affectionate, buying her gifts and telling her how much she means to him. When he’s drunk, however, he becomes violently ugly.

Clearly, the husbands haven’t always treated their wives this way, but their occasional moments of affection now seem forced and awkward.

When Tanya shows up at church with bruises on her face, she still denies that anything is wrong, but when she begins to fear for the safety of her young daughter, Faith (Nya Cummings), she finally turns to Elizabeth for help. Of course, each of their husbands become suspicious and feel betrayed — and the trouble escalates.

Robinson has a fine ear for dialogue. The words that these characters speak all ring true. “It’s not my story that I’m telling in the movie, but I was able to pull a lot from my own stories as far as being in relationships with manipulation or with coercive control to a certain degree… definitely a lot of myself is in that film,” the director told the Texas Standard . She has also assembled a fine cast that convincingly follows the film’s tonal shifts as it grows increasingly dark.

Made in and around Fort Worth, the film looks and sounds terrific, with vivid cinematography by James Duhon and solid editing by Meagan Waggoner. The filmmakers clearly found resourceful ways to stretch the budget and make a “big” film.

No Ordinary Love is now available on VOD.

Feature photo: DeAna Anderson and Lynn Andrews III.

Tags Chyna Robinson Fort Worth indie No Ordinary Love spousal abuse Texas VOD

About Kurt Gardner

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Review: No Ordinary Love

• Website Director
• August 8, 2023

In November 2020, only a few months after leaving the abusive relationship, I drove to Ocala, Florida, for the movie’s drive-in theater premiere. I watched it again this year at a movie screening event sponsored by the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council in my community where I serve as an advocate and volunteer. Each time I watched this film, I came away with the same impression: it accurately captures the complexity connected to relationships with domestic violence. 

A pastor’s wife, Elizabeth Jeffries and the spouse of a police officer, Tanya Anderson play the primary roles in the movie. Elizabeth tries to help Tanya escape the day-to-day realities of a life characterized by domestic violence. Although Elizabeth is experiencing abuse, at times it seems as if she is not aware that she too is personally affected by domestic violence. So, throughout the movie focuses on helping Tanya but does not use the same knowledge and tools she possesses to free herself from the abuse she is facing. Like many people, she may feel that absence of physical violence means an absence of abuse.

After watching the movie, one thing is clear, while Elizabeth and Tanya each have different experiences with domestic violence, both women are mistreated on a regular basis. I’ll explain some of the themes addressed in the movie as they pertain to domestic abuse. 

The abuser may appear to be a “nice guy” in public.

As shown in this movie, the abuser may seem like a nice person to others. In this movie, Elizabeth’s husband, Pastor Michael Jeffries is charming, charismatic, and kind to people he encounters in public. He is regularly seen providing encouragement to others and making people laugh. He saves the belittling behavior and put downs for his wife Elizabeth at home behind closed doors. 

Survivor’s may hide the abuse.

Shame and fear may cause survivors to hide the abuse. During several scenes in this movie, Tanya can be seen wearing sunglasses and heavy makeup to disguise bruises and black eyes. When asked about the injuries to her face she dismisses them as nothing serious or no big deal. 

Domestic violence is not limited to physical abuse. 

In this movie, Michael Jeffries is emotionally, verbally, and sexually abusive to his wife Elizabeth. A memorable scene from the movie is him throwing a plate of food she cooked to the floor while complaining it wasn’t good enough to eat. This movie reminds viewers that abuse is still abuse even if the abuser never uses physical violence. Furthermore, verbal abuse is still abuse and damaging property is still abusive!

Abusers are sometimes protected by others, so they don’t suffer the consequences of their actions. 

Tanya’s husband, Derrick Anderson is a law enforcement officer which makes it difficult to report her husband’s abuse. In one scene, law enforcement was called by a neighbor and when the Derrick’s colleagues arrived on the scene, the abusive episode was dismissed as a typical fight between a husband and wife.  

Children are aware of the abuse. 

In one scene, Tanya and Derrick’s daughter uses her barbie dolls to act out an abusive episode between her mother and father. Her friend looks confused as she watches her friend pretend the male doll is yelling at and abusing the female doll. In another scene, Tanya and Derrick’s daughter is shown hiding under the covers in her room while an abusive episode occurs in another room. The child’s behavior shows that she is aware of the abuse.

Abuse occurs on a cycle with highs and lows.

The cycle of abuse is shown continuously throughout Derrick and Tanya’s relationship.  In between episodes of abuse there are scenes where he buys her jewelry, flowers, and takes her out to fancy meals.  Just like in real life these “good times” never last long. The abuse slowly creeps back in until another violent, abusive episode occurs.

Abuse escalates over time . 

Identical to what happens in real life, the abusive episodes shown in the movie increase in severity as the movie continues. The initial abuse shown consists of verbal and emotional abuse. Later in the movie physical violence and destroying property is shown. At one point there is a scene where Derrick holds a gun to Tanya’s head. The reality shown in this movie and echoed in real life is that abuse can be dangerous and potentially deadly. 

As a survivor of domestic violence, I found that this movie provides a powerful depiction of domestic violence in its many forms. While watching the movie there were moments when I had to turn away. Certain scenes made me relive moments from the past abuse I experienced. 

I hope that reading this review will encourage you to watch this film to learn the story line that goes along with some of the themes I just presented. If you are a survivor of abuse, you will be able to personally connect with the themes presented. If you are an advocate or supporter of survivors, you will see examples of how domestic violence plays out in day-to-day life.

This movie is appropriately named No Ordinary Love and as a viewer it may make you wonder What’s Love Got to Do with It. 

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No Ordinary Love (2019) Stream and Watch Online

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Yearning to watch ' No Ordinary Love ' in the comfort of your own home? Hunting down a streaming service to buy, rent, download, or view the Chyna Robinson-directed movie via subscription can be a challenge, so we here at Moviefone want to do the work for you. Below, you'll find a number of top-tier streaming and cable services - including rental, purchase, and subscription choices - along with the availability of 'No Ordinary Love' on each platform when they are available. Now, before we get into the fundamentals of how you can watch 'No Ordinary Love' right now, here are some specifics about the thriller flick. Released May 18th, 2019, 'No Ordinary Love' stars DeAna Davis , Lynn Andrews III , April Hartman , Eric Hanson The movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 39 min, and received a user score of (out of 100) on TMDb, which put together reviews from respected users. You probably already know what the movie's about, but just in case... Here's the plot: "Lines between romantic ideals and control become blurred when Tanyas husband can no longer handle the stress of his career as a police officer His warm kisses turn cold and she is left fighting for her life At the same time Elizabeths idyllic life is marred when her charming husband manipulates her into believing that she is going insane As Elizabeth counsels Tanya she realizes the signs of abuse in her own marriage When both women decide to leave they realize it isnt going to go as smoothly as theyd planned The escape they seek turns deadly" 'No Ordinary Love' is currently available to rent, purchase, or stream via subscription on Vudu, YouTube, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, Apple iTunes, Crackle, and Plex Channel .

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Directed by Chyna Robinson

A film about intimate partner violence

Lines between romantic ideals and control become blurred when Tanya's husband can no longer handle the stress of his career as a police officer. His warm kisses turn cold, and she is left fighting for her life. At the same time, Elizabeth's idyllic life is marred when her charming husband manipulates her into believing that she is going insane. As Elizabeth counsels Tanya, she realizes the signs of abuse in her own marriage. When both women decide to leave, they realize it isn't going to go as smoothly as they'd planned. The escape they seek, turns deadly.

DeAna Davis Lynn Andrews III April Hartman Eric Hanson Nya Cummings Cleshia Huckaby Houston Ries Draper Wynston Gerardo Davila Gwendolynn Murphy Charles Barry Debbi Tucker KayDee Carr Allan Thomas Patrick Lescarbeau Joshua Reed

Director Director

Chyna Robinson

Producer Producer

Writer writer, editor editor.

Meagan Waggoner

Cinematography Cinematography

James J. Duhon

Makeup Makeup

Elinia Eads

Romance Thriller

Releases by Date

18 may 2019, releases by country.

99 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

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Review by Minh Nguyễn ★★★½

I decided to follow up 2019's Ordinary Love with this.

The story revolves around two couples in an abusive relationship, one physical and the other one verbal. This is a low budget film and it certainly shows. And due to the level of acting the parts with the white couple has a bit of a The Room quality to it, but the underlying story is not that bad and its portrayal of domestic abuse is realised pretty well. I have been in a verbally abusive relationship myself and I recognised a lot in it.

What worked against it was its use of pop songs (I would've preferred if it just stuck to the Hallmark piano stuff) and I think it…

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No Ordinary Love (2019)

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Vulnerability and strength prove vital to a resilient woman who finds herself in a dangerous situation with her police officer husband. When she exposes his secret to her pastor's wife, the two women's lives intersect with shocking results.

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‘Ordinary Love’ Review: In Sickness and in Health

Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson play a married couple facing a cancer diagnosis.

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By A.O. Scott

Tom and Joan are a long-married couple whose daily routines — walking for exercise, shopping for groceries, trading affectionate pretend insults — signal deep affection and easy intimacy. The movie about a trying year in their lives is called “Ordinary Love,” and the opening scenes paint a modest, careful picture of unexceptional middle-class existence.

The catch — and also the point — is that these unassuming people are played by two extraordinary actors: Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville. The film, directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn from a screenplay by Owen McCafferty, is nearly a two-hander, and the hands are played with discipline, grace and wit. Neeson, taking a break from his usual wintertime angry-dad action-movie duties , is wry and crinkly, his loose limbs and craggy features suggesting great power in repose. Manville is a sharp, quicksilver presence, her face hovering between impatience and astonishment. The two of them communicate absolute trust in each other, and inspire the same in the audience. You are prepared to believe everything they say and do.

But you may also wish there were more. The narrative of “Ordinary Love,” which stretches between two Christmases, deals with what happens after Joan finds a lump in her left breast. There are tests, more tests, surgery and chemotherapy — the grim, anxious, absurd routines of modern cancer treatment.

“There won’t be a minute that I won’t be there with you,” Tom promises, and though he is true to his word, Joan’s illness subjects their relationship to complicated stresses and shocks. They are going through it together, but in a cruelly asymmetrical fashion. The caregiver and the patient are allies, but neither one shares the other’s particular suffering, which threatens to turn them into adversaries.

D’Sa and Leyburn (“Cherrybomb,” “Good Vibrations”) convey this with a sensitivity that is both admirable and frustrating, casting a tasteful, restrained hush over potentially unruly emotions. The music (by David Holmes and Brian Irvine) modulates from nervous to soothing to sad, and the editing (by Nick Emerson) folds one scene tactfully into the next. It has often been said that war movies inevitably glorify combat, and it’s also true that movies about grave illness tend to sentimentalize its ravages. That is the case here: An experience often defined by dread, indignity and tedium is softened and made beautiful.

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Review: Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson give potent, star performances in ‘Ordinary Love’

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It’s a paradox of films dealing with devastating illness — a cadre in which the newly released “Ordinary Love” is definitely included — that they’re at their best when they are the hardest to take.

The gold standard for that category is Michael Haneke’s pitiless 2012 Oscar winner “Amour,” a once-seen-never-forgotten film starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva, which details what happens to a lifelong marriage when the wife suffers a series of debilitating strokes.

As directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn, “Ordinary Love” is not in that league (nothing else is, either), but it shares the benefit of having a pair of superb performers as stars, in this case taking us through a year in the life of a harmonious couple dealing with a wife’s diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer.

While Liam Neeson, playing husband Tom, is the bigger name courtesy of his berserker heroics in the “Taken” series , “Ordinary Love” is grounded in the great gifts of his costar Lesley Manville as wife Joan.

Oscar-nominated for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” but best known for her extensive work for director Mike Leigh , Manville is all-in here, alternating between fragility and strength as she finds ways to wordlessly express emotions one might have thought were inexpressible.

A first screenplay by veteran British playwright Owen McCafferty and set in Northern Ireland, “Ordinary Love” is based partly on experiences he and his wife went through.

The film starts with Tom and Joan as a companionable couple who like nothing better than matching each other stride for stride in exercise walks and then genially teasing each other about their mutual foibles.

Though they’d never met until both were considered for these parts, Manville and Neeson (who seems truly pleased not to be playing someone with revenge on his mind) are such accomplished performers we believe them as a married couple of long duration.

Still, these scenes of contentment have a pro forma quality about them, the kind of calm before the storm that is inevitable in a film about the onset of medical calamity.

Things start to go bad when Joan discovers a lump in her left breast, goes to see her doctor and is sent to the hospital for a series of tests and procedures matter-of-factly depicted in Piers McGrail’s cool cinematography.

Tom, whose default position is a kind of bluster, insists that the tests will prove her cancer-free. When Joan asks, “What’s going to happen if I’ve got cancer?,” he softens, telling her he will be with her every step of the way. Exploring what that turns out to mean is where “Ordinary Love” is heading.

One of the things we discover is that Joan and Tom had a daughter who died suddenly a decade earlier — we never learn why — a death that they both share and react to in different ways.

That sharing and difference is one of the strengths of “Ordinary Love,” something that’s illustrated by a dream Joan has of being alone on a train with Tom outside looking worried and confused.

Because Manville and Neeson are such potent performers, they are expert at playing out all the implications of what this experience is like.

One of the most affecting points “Ordinary Love” makes is that as much as he would like to, in reality Tom can’t share Joan’s experience, can’t know what it feels like to be the person with cancer, the person who might die.

“Ordinary Love” is also unstinting in showing the depredations of the chemotherapy Joan is prescribed, the loss of hair, the massive shifts in body temperature, the extreme pain, which makes the treatment seem almost barbaric.

And the worse things gets, the more compelling “Ordinary Love” becomes, culminating in a terrible fight nominally about which pill ought to be taken but actually stemming from the fact that both husband and wife feel on the verge of cracking up.

“Ordinary Love” can in no way sustain that level, and some elements of it, like a hospital-born friendship with one of their daughter’s former teachers (David Wilmot) and his husband (Amit Shah), feels too convenient.

What does sustain is the work of the leads, especially Manville. As her face gets increasingly drawn, even haunted, it increasing draws us in and tells us everything we need to know. Manville’s gifts and accomplishments are no surprise, but she’s never been better than she is here.

'Ordinary Love'

Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 32 minutes Playing: The Landmark, West Los Angeles

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‘Ordinary Love’: Cancer story offers plenty of emotion, not much insight

Despite strong performances by lesley manville and liam neeson, the domestic drama offers little beyond recounting the steps of diagnosis and treatment..

Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson play husband and wife in “Ordinary Love.”

Bleecker Street

Don’t you just love it when people make it all about them when it comes to visiting a loved one in the hospital?

We’ve all heard it: “Ugh, I hate going to hospitals. They’re so depressing. I just … can’t.”

Shut up. Nobody LIKES going to the hospital. But after you visit a friend or a relative, YOU get to home and the patient has to stay. Put that in your perspective and smoke it.

Early on in “Ordinary Love,” Liam Neeson’s Tom delivers the “I hate hospitals” speech, practically shivering as he looks about a room filled with patients and says a gathering of so many sick people in one place can’t be good for anyone.

Yeah, except it’s a HOSPITAL, Tom.

That Tom says this to his wife Joan (Lesley Manville), as they’re waiting to find out if she has cancer, indicates he’s not always the most thoughtful or considerate husband in world history. But, like just about every other moment in this quiet, deliberately paced domestic drama from directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (from a screenplay by Owen McCafferty), Tom’s observations have the ring of truth and authenticity.

This is the most admirable thing about “Ordinary Love” — its pinpoint accuracy in capturing the small everyday highs and lows in a longtime marriage, as well as the sudden and unexpected vagaries.

It’s also the very reason I stop just short of recommending this film. Despite the finely calibrated performances from the two wonderful lead players and the occasional effectively moving moment, “Ordinary Love” focuses an almost documentary-style attention to the slow and sometimes excruciatingly painful grind of a cancer diagnosis and the subsequent surgical procedures and chemotherapy.

For anyone who has been through this life-shattering process, either as a patient or the partner, it will be all too familiar and, blunt as this may sound, all too repetitive. “Ordinary Love” gets everything right, but there’s almost nothing in the way of a major plot revelation or insightful flashback explaining certain elements from the past. It just proceeds from scene to scene, allowing us to eavesdrop on the lives of these two decent, comfortably connected life partners, and then it’s time for all of us to move on, and that’s that.

Joan and Tom are a retired couple in late middle age who live in a comfortable home in Belfast. (It’s a nice house, but it appears they haven’t updated the décor since about 1996.) They spend nearly every waking moment together, from their daily walks (they always take the same route, turning around when they reach a small tree near a construction site) to their meals to their nightly settling-in routines.

There’s a lot of playful, light bickering, especially on Tom’s part. Something as simple as Tom declaring he’s going to have an after-dinner beer, or a discussion about inviting a guest to Christmas dinner, inevitably leads to a game of verbal ping-pong that can be just a little bit exhausting — for Joan, and for us.

One day, Joan is in the shower when she finds a lump in her breast. She is concerned. Tom is concerned, too, but he says all the right things about how it’s probably nothing, and they’ll go to the doctor the next day, and it’s going to be all right.

Except it’s not.

Step by step, scene by scene, “Ordinary Love” takes us through Joan’s biopsy, operations and multiple chemotherapy sessions. Her hair starts to fall out. The medication doesn’t come close to muting her pain.

She gets the chills — and a moment later is desperately flinging off blankets and trying to cool down.

Tom is there for Joan, but the stress leads to the inevitable knockdown, drag-out fights, as when Tom complains about the pressure of going through this together, and Joan responds: We are not going through this TOGETHER.

We learn about a tragedy from the past, and we meet a terminal cancer patient named Peter (David Wilmot), a former teacher of Tom’s and Joan’s daughter. Joan only knew Peter in that meet-once-or-twice-a-year way a parent knows a child’s teacher, but now they become dear friends because each understands what the other is going through.

“Ordinary Love” has a static look, and by-the-numbers camera shots and editing. Most of the scenes are interiors, whether we’re in the home or the car or the hospital. And while the script never feels anything less than genuine and believable, there’s something a little bit stagey and underwhelming on a film that’s so heavily dependent on dialogue, it feels like it might have been more effective as a two-character play on a sparsely decorated stage.

The 10 Best Non-Linear Romance Movies, Ranked

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The romance genre is easily one of the most watched in the film industry, with many resorting to their emotional narratives for comfort and solace or even as an attempt to heal from heartbreak. In the genre, non-linear narratives can be particularly effective for several reasons, with their enhanced emotional impact — often because they reveal key moments in a relationship without chronological order — making them rank high at the top of the list.

Although several more conventional romance films have captured the attention of many, others that rely on less common narrative structures have intrigued worldwide audiences. From 500 Days of Summer to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind , we look back at some of the best non-linear narrative romance movies, ranking them by greatness and examining what exactly makes them so good .

10 'The Time Traveler's Wife' (2009)

Director: robert schwentke.

Directed by Robert Schwentke and based on Audrey Niffenegger 's 2003 novel of the same name, The Time Traveler's Wife sees a librarian named Henry DeTamble ( Eric Bana ), who has a unique gene that allows him to travel through time involuntarily. The movie depicts his wife's ( Rachel McAdams ) difficult time dealing with it.

Featuring an unconventional form of time travel where the protagonist does not have much control over his skill, involuntarily making his way through it, The Time Traveler 's Wife is a great example of a non-linear romance story in film . Thanks to its complex narrative, it manages to generally highlight the complexities and unpredictability of relationships, exploring love that transcends the boundaries of time and assuring audiences that it persists despite eventual challenges.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Watch on Max

9 '500 Days of Summer' (2009)

Director: marc webb.

Marc Webb 's 2009 movie has rapidly become a cult classic romance film, and it is not difficult to grasp its appeal. The movie stars Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt in the lead roles, following a hopeless romantic who, after being dumped by the girl of his dreams, meditates on their relationship and attempts to figure out where things went wrong.

500 Days of Summer is, too, an interesting non-linear narrative pick , essentially for its back-and-forth jumps within the 500 days of the protagonist's relationship and explores Tom's character growth. Another one of the standout elements in Webb's picture is how it sheds a realistic light on relationships, providing audiences with a bittersweet portrayal of love that reinforces that not every relationship is meant to last forever.

500 Days of Summer

Watch on Hulu

8 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' (2008)

Director: david fincher.

In David Fincher 's mind-blowing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — loosely adapted from the 1922 short story of the same name by iconic author F. Scott Fitzgerald — audiences are introduced to a man born in 1918 as an elderly man who ages in reverse. He makes his way through life, experiencing love and heartbreak, eventually leaving this earth as a "newborn" baby.

Although more of a drama and fantasy film than really a romance, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button features a meaningful relationship at its center that left a lasting impact on Brad Pitt 's protagonist. Dealing with themes of aging, time, and love across different stages of life — and how it endures even as people grow and transform in unexpected ways — Fincher's film is certainly one that comes to mind when it comes to the best non-linear narrative romance films .

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Watch on Apple TV+

7 'Blue Valentine' (2010)

Director: derek cianfrance.

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams bring an ordinary contemporary married couple to life in Derek Cianfrance 's heartwrenching romantic drama. Adopting a raw and emotionally compelling non-linear narrative structure, the movie spans over the years, cross-cutting between time periods, chronicling the evolution and deterioration of their bond.

The perfect choice for anyone who is into sad romance films , Blue Valentine is guaranteed to move audiences to tears — part of this has to do with its incredible exploration of realistic, at times even brutal love not often depicted in film and the effective non-linear structure that makes it an even more impactful movie. This is mostly because audiences get to watch the love and passion shared by the protagonists declining and their dreams decaying while being met with new challenges.

Blue Valentine (2010)

Watch on Apple TV

6 'La Notte' (1961)

Director: michelangelo antonioni.

Directed by the Italian filmmaking icon Michaelangelo Antonioni , La Notte is a landmark in dramatic cinema for its narrative style and the existential themes it deals with. The captivating black-and-white drama chronicles a day in the life of an unfaithful married couple ( Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni ), reflecting on their slowly deteriorating relationship.

La Notte is a wonderfully crafted movie that stands out for the way it unfolds mostly in one day and night, exploring alienation and disconnection in relationships with intriguing results. Although it takes place over 24 hours, the characters often reflect on their past and the couple's earlier days, leaving audiences intrigued and wondering what went wrong. No doubt, La Notte 's episodic structure is one of its most memorable aspects .

5 'Out of the Past' (1947)

Director: jacques tourneur.

Image via RKO Pictures

Another picture that deserves a nod thanks to its well-crafted storyline is Jacques Tourneur 's Out of the Past . The film noir follows a private eye ( Robert Mitchum ) who escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town. When he lets his past catch up with him, he finds himself forced to return to the world of corruption and danger he once thought he was free of.

Not only does Out of the Past 's non-linear structure deepen the romantic premise by shedding light on Jeff's romantic relationships, but it also adds a layer of mystery, suspense, and intrigue to the noir story . Furthermore, this particular structure makes the movie's outcome more heartbreaking and impactful, lingering on the audience's minds after the credits roll and helping establish Out of the Past as one of the best classic film noirs of all time.

Out Of The Past (1947)

Rent on Apple TV

4 'La Jetée' (1962)

Director: chris marker.

Particularly known for its use of non-linear narrative, Chris Marker 's trailblazer science fiction focuses on the story of a man who is forced to explore his memories in the wake of World War II. The movie is told mostly through still images.

La Jetée remains a blueprint in cinema, especially in the science fiction genre, for the singular way that it tells a story almost entirely through images, and how it mostly features a non-linear narrative. All of this makes it an unforgettable picture that reinforces themes of predestination and free will, tackling time and love while delivering an intriguing premise. It is a powerful and poignant love story elevated by its unconventional structure . Movies like 12 Monkeys were heavily inspired by the iconic piece of filmmaking which remains highly influential these days.

La Jetée (1962)

Watch on Criterion

3 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' (1959)

Director: alain resnais.

Alan Resnais ' Hiroshima Mon Amour stands as a must-see romance movie, particularly among other classics, with its well-crafted narrative being a part of its enduring appeal. The film focuses on a French actress ( Emmanuelle Riva ) filming an anti-war movie who has an affair with a married Japanese architect ( Eiji Okada ), with the two sharing their differing perspectives on war.

Exploring memory and trauma through an emotionally involving premise, this must-see French New Wave is said to have walked so Oppenheimer could run . Hiroshima Mon Amour 's well-crafted non-linear narrative mirrors memory's fragmented nature , with its disjointed structure reflecting how past experiences can influence the present. By the time of its release, the French New Wave must-watch was a groundbreaking experiment that challenged normal storytelling, resulting in a blueprint in cinema that stands the test of time today.

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)

2 'eternal sunshine of the spotless mind' (2004), director: michel gondry.

This essential in the science fiction genre endures as a beloved watch, with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet delivering top-notch performances. The plot focuses on a couple whose relationship turns sour and decide to undergo a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories permanently.

One of the most defining aspects of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is its non-linear narrative , as the story primarily unfolds within the mind of protagonist Joel, jumping back and forth between different moments in his relationship with Winslet's character Clementine. Equal amounts entertaining and heartbreaking, Gondry's fan-favorite sic-fi delves deep into the role of memory in both one's identity and the relationships he/she shares. It is a profound and thought-provoking watch that subverts romantic tropes, remaining a must-see today.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

1 'rebecca' (1940), director: alfred hitchcock.

In Alfred Hitchcock 's iconic Gothic romance Rebecca , based on the 1938 novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier , a self-conscious and insecure woman ( Joan Fontaine ) attempts to adjust to her new role as an aristocrat's ( Laurence Oliver ) new partner while attempting not to be intimidated by his first wife's spirit.

Although subtle, Rebecca 's non-linear narrative plays a crucial role in its storytelling , helping to create the movie's iconic eerie atmosphere and building suspense, with the past and the present constantly interwoven to keep viewers invested. Meditating on the complications of love while analyzing past and present relationships, identity, and buried secrets, this iconic Alfred Hitchcock landmark in cinema easily stands among the best of its genre even after all these years, whether because of its masterful direction or the complex central love story.

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NEXT: The 10 Best Cult Classic Romance Movies, Ranked