Do open relationships ever work? The answer is “yes” and “no” in Michael Angelo Covino’s comedy, Splitsville. At first, the film makes open marriage look easy. We quickly find that marriage is never easy, especially when you bring a third, fourth, or even fifth person into the mix. The movie doesn’t completely write off the idea of open relationships, however. Not every person is capable of monogamy. If two people can be forthright about that, an open marriage just might work. That said, you may not be 100% honest with yourself until your significant other reveals that they slept with somebody else.
Kyle Marvin, the film’s co-writer and Covino’s frequent collaborator, plays Carey. Adria Arjona is his wife Ashley, who breaks the news that she wants a divorce. Carey literally runs from his problems all the way to his friends Paul (Covino) and Julie (Dakota Johnson). Inviting Carey to stay at their lake house, Paul and Julie reveal the key to their marriage: they can sleep with other people and neither is allowed to get jealous. Before Carey can bring the idea to Ashley, he winds up sleeping Julie while Paul is out of town. Things escalate quickly when Carey tells Paul, turning the lovely lakeside manor into a battlefield.
In another movie, Carey and Paul’s confrontation would be the climax. Here, it’s in the first third. This opens the story to more possibilities as Carey tries navigating his new relationship Julie while trying to win back Ashely. Paul is caught in the middle along with a few other guys that Ashley takes as lovers. Covino knows how to stage comedy set pieces in a way that’s over-the-top without coming off as too elaborate. Marvin and Covino’s script is also chockfull of biting one-liners that range from passive aggressive to brutally direct.
While Splitsville is fresher than most of the comedies you’ll see this year, it can come off as familiar if you’ve seen Covino’s previous film, 2019’s The Climb. Covino and Marvin also co-starred in that movie as best friends torn apart when one of them sleeps with the other’s fiancé. Both films are also broken into chapters for no apparent reason. Although Splitsville doesn’t drastically deviate from that film’s tone or style, it doesn’t feel like Covino is simply repeating himself here. Where The Climb was more about friendship, Splitsville is about relationships in general with a funny foursome at the center.
Johnson is the MVP, trying to remain calm and collected as the life she’s built crumbles. Between Materialists and Splitsville, Johnson has starred in two of the year’s most unique romantic comedies. Part of that’s because neither is really a rom-com. Splitsville, in particular, advertises itself as “an unromantic comedy.” Although it may not be romantic, the film is quite funny and honest about human nature. By the end, one could argue that the characters aren’t any less dysfunctional. Yet, they come to terms with that dysfunction, learning to live with it. To some, this might not be a normal lifestyle. If it works for them, though, who are we to judge?