Netflix, the streaming service behind “A Christmas Prince,” “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding,” and “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby,” wants people to know they’re serious about movies too.

To go alongside their release of Martin Scorsese’s masterful crime epic, “The Irishman,” Netflix has now released “Marriage Story,” the acclaimed drama from writer/director Noah Baumbach (“Frances Ha,” “The Squid and the Whale”). It’s about divorce, or more specifically, about how two people (played by Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson) negotiate for custody of their young son.

At first they’re friendly and compassionate about the process, but then the lawyers get involved. Charlie (Driver) is an up-and-coming playwright in New York. His wife, actress Nicole (Johansson), headlined many of his productions, though Nicole is offered a role on a TV show in Los Angeles just as their marriage begins to crumble.

Despite the potential for melodrama, “Marriage Story” has a light touch for much of its running time thanks to Baumbach’s reliably insightful and funny screenplay, and Driver and Johansson play charming, likable people. The movie takes time unpeeling the hurt that ultimately doomed Charlie and Nicole’s marriage, and once their mistakes and imperfections become clear, Baumbach still avoids treating either like a villain.

Even the lawyers have some charm. Laura Dern plays a particularly ruthless L.A. divorce attorney, but she’s effective in court because her arguments are impassioned and genuine. You’d definitely want her on your side. Alan Alda, meanwhile, plays a more pragmatic counselor to Charlie, but “Marriage Story” eventually proves there are limits to reason when it comes to court custody battles. Apparently, that’s when you hire Ray Liotta.

The pleasantries of “Marriage Story” erode as it goes on, leading Driver and Johansson into a couple of significant dramatic clashes. Both actors, strong as they’ve been in recent years, are doing career-best work here, and Johansson in particular manages to remain a forceful, empathetic presence even as the movie shifts slightly more toward Driver’s perspective in the second half.

Baumbach remains a unique voice in independent cinema, and “Marriage Story” might be his most focused and dramatically satisfying to date. Still, if there’s one takeaway from the project, it’s probably, “Keep the lawyers out of it.”

‘Dark Waters’

On the other hand, a corporate lawyer named Robert Bilott might end up saving us all from being poisoned by toxic chemicals found in everyday household products.

“Dark Waters,” from director Todd Haynes (“Far from Heaven,” “Carol”), follows Mark Ruffalo as Bilott on what becomes a 20-year court battle with the DuPont chemical company. Bilott, as the film dramatizes, first becomes entangled with DuPont after taking the case of a West Virginian farmer who believes a DuPont chemical plant is poisoning his cattle’s water supply. The problem turns out to be much, much worse.

“Dark Waters” also features Anne Hathaway, somewhat underutilized playing Bilott’s wife, and Tim Robbins as Bilott’s conflicted boss at a firm that made its mark previously by defending large chemical companies like DuPont. Bill Pullman also makes a splash as another attorney late in the film, so much so that you almost want Haynes to lose focus of the main narrative and follow the guy around for a while.

Ruffalo, however, anchors the film with a steady presence, appearing in nearly every scene playing the soft-spoken Bilott, while the pressure of the case (and the extent of the contamination) weigh on Bilott to the point of a near-mental breakdown. Understandable, really, given what he discovers.

The film is an efficient procedural with a compelling real-life investigation at the center. Hollywood used to give us a couple solid legal thrillers every few years, so “Dark Waters” feels like a bit of a throwback in many respects. Mostly, though, it will compel you to throw out your Teflon pans.

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Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com. He is the co-host of “Old Millennials Remember Movies,” available everywhere you find podcasts and at OldMillennialsRemember.com