Several years ago, I got out of a relationship in which arguments were increasingly part of our routine as a couple. I remember always feeling confused after our fights: Why did we say the same words over again in different situations? Why did it become so heated? What was actually said? After we broke up, I kept returning to the arguments we had.

I wrote a script based on my experiences: a scene in which a couple has an intense verbal fight. My longtime friend Line and her partner at the time, Jimmy, are professional actors. They were tasked with playing the roles in my script, repeating the argument over and over — and working through the lines as a real couple.

Line’s and Jimmy’s reactions to the scene between takes showed the underlying similarity in what many couples’ fights are about: a negotiation about a future together. How they act and react could bring them closer or widen the divide between them.

Marie Suul Brobakke is a documentary director based in Copenhagen.

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