Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Social test forces love; has cursing, drinking, innuendo.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Marriage Pact
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Hosted by relationship expert and sexologist Shan Boodram, THE MARRIAGE PACT is a dating experiment. Couples try to decide whether or not to marry their "back up spouse." Six duos, each of whom are just friends, once agreed to marry each other if they hadn't each married by a certain date. Now in Cartagena, Colombia, cameras follow as they spend three weeks undergoing relationship counseling, intimacy exercises, and spending time alone with their pact partner to help them determine if they are ready to be romantically involved. At the end of the twenty-one days, each couple must decide if they are going to tie the knot, or if they are going to release each other from the pact and go their separate ways forever.
Is It Any Good?
This silly series offers a tedious look at platonic couples awkwardly attempting to find mutual love in less than a month. Much of the Marriage Pact's focus is on intimacy, or lack thereof, which adds to the discomfort, especially when a pact partners' advances are rejected. Adding to this is contrived drama between different cast members, some of which seems oddly out of place. However, the biggest problem with The Marriage Pact is how it attempts to raise the stakes with its "all or nothing" approach to these potentially evolving relationships for the sake of entertainment. Folks who like reality dating shows may find something here, but chances are that this exercise in forced love will bore them.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what a marriage pact is. Do most people who make a pact with each other to get married in the future take it seriously? Or is it just for a little fun in that moment?
What messages does The Marriage Pact send about love and intimacy as it relates to friendships versus romantic coupling? How seriously are the participants about marrying their pact partner at the end of the three weeks?
TV Details
- Premiere date : August 4, 2023
- Cast : Shan Boodram
- Network : Roku Channel
- Genre : Reality TV
- Topics : Friendship
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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