On the far side of a once-passionate romance, Cindy and Dean are married with a young daughter. Hoping to save their marriage, they steal away to a theme hotel, where they’re flooded with memories of when they met and fell in love—full of life and hope.

Cinema has always been a potent tool to scrutinize relationships, and Derek Cianfrance’s drama is a raw example of such faculty—an unwavering dissection of a marriage, weaving rapturous memories with an unsteady present. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling’s chemistry is an affecting, aching affair.