Aahana Swrup
Netflix’s ‘Tonight You’re Sleeping With Me’, directed by Robert Wichrowski, is a romance drama that deals with the conflicts of an unhappy marriage, the affairs that it leads to, and its ultimate outcome. Our protagonist, Nina, is stuck in a loveless marriage with a distant and impassive husband, but when an ex-boyfriend from her past enters her life again, she has to make a decision between keeping her family together or falling into a passionate, fulfilling romance. This movie delves into the complications of marriage and parenthood and puts it in stark contrast against a younger, more exciting affair. In doing so, it explores themes of infidelity and love.
The movie focuses on the choices made by Nina and their results, but it strives to shed extra light on the reasons behind her actions. Though her affair is portrayed as unethical and wrong by other characters, the narrative still asks for some understanding and sympathy from the audience. By the end of the movie, our protagonist finds herself faced with the repercussions of her actions and a new outlook on life. The ending of the movie, however, is vague and uncertain, and therefore leaves the viewers with a few questions. Here are some of them discussed. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Tonight You’re Sleeping With Me Plot Synopsis
The story begins with the family life of Nina Szklarska. She has a wonderfully happy and satisfying connection with her two daughters, but it becomes abundantly clear that the same is not true for the dynamic between her and her husband as soon as Maciek enters the narrative. Throughout the movie, Nina’s relationship with her husband, Maciek, is fraught and full of tension. When it comes to parenting and balancing their respective jobs with their home life, the spouses are never on the same page, with Maciek constantly dismissing Nina and her work life.
Soon, Janek, an old flame, abruptly enters Nina’s life. As Nina recalls her past relationship with Janek, it drastically sets itself apart from her marriage. The chemistry between Nina and Janek is emotional and fierce, and their bond is often treated as something almost reverent. Aware of the attraction between herself and Janek and what it can lead to, Nina is very cautious of it at first. But when her husband springs his solo trip to Iceland on her earlier than discussed and consequently leaves her to juggle work and kids without any warning, her caution breaks and sends her into a whirlwind extramarital romance.
The plot expands upon the two relationships and the respective ways in which they both affect Nina’s character. It explores concepts of divorce and the influence it can have on kids while also raising issues with the idea of the spouses only staying together for the sake of the kids. Nina’s affair is paralleled by her parent’s marriage and through it, she is able to understand the nuances of her childhood better. She even has a moment of connection with her mother whom she had always shared a strained relationship with, for most of her life. The movie finally concludes with Maciek finding out about Nina’s affair and the characters dealing with its aftermath.
Tonight You’re Sleeping With Me Ending, Explained: Who Does Nina End up With: Maciek or Janek?
The center of the conflict in this story revolves around Nina’s relationships with Maciek and Janek. The narrative takes care not to morally condemn either of these relationships while still showcasing the negative effects they both have on Nina’s life and the lives of those around her. Nina has a marriage— albeit an unhappy one— with Maciek and has built a life with him and their two kids. But she is fundamentally unhappy in this relationship, constantly feeling unloved, ignored, and neglected. But with Janek, she is presented with everything she lacks in her marriage— admiration, appreciation, and passion. The opportunity of getting to have those things with Janek inevitably makes it harder for Nina to pretend she can continue to have a life with Maciek.
Things start to go awry when Maciek, over a phone call, overhears Nina having sex with Janek and confessing her love to him. With her affair out in the open, Nina books a flight out to Iceland to break things off with Maciek in person and ultimately come back to be with Janek. But then, Maciek gets in an accident that leaves him in a coma. The dire circumstances make Nina re-evaluate her decision, and she realizes she can’t leave her husband for another man, at least not in his condition.
Janek, though heartbroken, understands her predicament and tells her he’ll give her some space but promises to wait for her. Similarly, after Maciek wakes, he is shown to be regretful at the poor state of their marriage and seems willing to understand the part he played in it. The implication is clear: they can work on their marriage and salvage the love between them that has, somewhere along the lines, gone adrift.
During her affair with Janek, Nina is seen continually struggling with the prospect of her future with both Janek and Maciek. Her parents give her opposing advice that both come from being on opposite sides of a situation identical to Nina’s. The constant back and forth depicts Nina’s and the narrative’s shared inability to make a decision. Though Nina had compulsively jumped into this affair, she is now unwilling to participate in its fallout actively.
Throughout the movie, she chooses to keep seeing Janek without giving up her marriage. Yet where she had taken on the active role for most of the plot, in the resolution, she takes on the passive, more docile role allowing the men to present her with her options but never showcasing her own verdict. In the end, Nina is left alone, and her relationships with both Maciek and Janek are gone and irreversibly changed. She doesn’t end up with either of them, but with only the pieces of her life left for her to pick back up.
Why Did Nina Cheat on Maciek With Janek?
At the beginning of the movie, Nina is shown to be very mindful around Janek. She fully understands the pull they have towards one another, and she understands what the consequences of acting on that pull would be as well. So what exactly makes her eventually throw her morals to the wind and cheat on her husband behind his back?
Nina was unhappy in her marriage long before Janek showed up, yet time and time again, she tries to make excuses for Maciek’s behavior and tells herself that she should be happy with what she has. Maciek may not be as affectionate or understanding, but that’s just because he has his own way of showing his love, right? However, Maciek’s indiscretions start to add up. Maciek constantly expects Nina to make time for kids and housework while still juggling her job and refuses to make any sacrifices himself. He moves up his Iceland trip and shows callous negligence towards her and the kids while repeatedly undermining Nina and making decisions that only cause her more stress. It isn’t until Nina experiences the caring, attentive nature of Janek that she truly realizes how horrible her life with Maciek so far has been.
While Maciek is away, Janek is the one who ends up being there for Nina. He fulfills Nina’s needs and cares for her in a way she was never cared for by Maciek. He’s good with her kids and makes an effort even to remember their favorite candy. Moreover, the dynamic between Nina and Janek is shown to be much more sensual and sexually charged than the one Nina shares with Maciek. Nina seems to crave this sexual aspect of a romantic relationship, something the narrative explicitly portrays as missing from her married life.
The love she has for Janek is also visibly present throughout the plot. The names Nina and Janek had imagined for their daughters in the past— Lena and Zuzia— are the names she has given to her daughters with another man. Nina clearly never forgot Janek and greatly valued and even mourned their past relationship. All these emotions, mixed with the feelings of being trapped and suffocated in her marriage, inevitably push Nina toward Janek. He presents a chance at something new, something more thrilling and adventurous than her mundane life. The road that leads her down the path of adultery is one filled with nostalgia, desperation, and even love for Janek, but most importantly, Nina’s underlying yearning for a partner who understands and cherishes her.
What Are Escher Stairs? What is Their Significance?
During Nina’s talk with her father about her situation of being stuck between a loveless marriage and an extramarital love, she compares the only possible solution to The Escher’s Stairs. This most likely references the concept of an Escherian Staircase as presented by Michael Lacanilao. The Escherian Staircase is an illusion believed to be based upon the impossible objects of M.C. Escher and the Penrose Stairs.
This illusion proposes the idea of a staircase that continuously goes up and down but loops back in on itself in the end. The impossibility of these staircases is mirrored in Nina’s situation, which she also sees as impossible. She can go up and down, but no matter what she does, she will always end up right where she started: unhappy. If she chooses to stay with Maciek for her kids’ sake, she chooses to remain unhappy and without love. At the same time, if she chooses Janek, she’s directly affecting her kids’ happiness and irreparably hurting her husband in the process.
The story uses the Escher Stairs as the perfect metaphor for Nina’s position. She has to make an impossible decision, which invariably leaves her with negative consequences. She wants to escape this conundrum in a way that would leave her and her loved ones unscathed and unharmed. In the end, when the consequences of her actions catch up to her, everyone she cares about— herself included— is left wounded. Because, in the end, an easy solution for Nina— like the Escherian Stairs— was always impossible.
Read More: 15 Best Infidelity and Cheating Movies of All Time
