When longtime collaborators Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin team up again – in front of and behind the camera – the result is ‘Splitsville,’ a romantic screwball comedy that mines modern relationship chaos with a deliciously self-aware wink.
Splitsville opens not with a bang, but a bang-up car accident that sets off emotional fissions among two intertwined couples: Carey (Kyle Marvin) and Ashley (Adria Arjona), and their friends Paul (Covino) and Julie (Dakota Johnson), who are navigating an open marriage.
What begins as comedic potential quickly devolves into a tangle of betrayal, awkward sexual encounters, and even trauma bonding. The film’s tone is playful yet chaotic.
Dakota Johnson delivers a grounded performance as Julie, the group’s voice of reason and high end mom. Arjona’s Ashley commands the screwball chaos with a freeing intensity, though both characters ultimately orbit the male protagonists’ emotional arcs.
Covino and Marvin lean into their lovable misfires: his Paul is abrasive-then-vulnerable; Marvin’s Carey stumbles heroically through emotional immaturity. Both characters infuse the comedy with just enough pathos to keep it from becoming completely unhinged.
Splitsville has an R-rating for frank sexuality and mature themes and rolls out via Neon on August 22 in limited release, with a wide release on September 5th.
If you’re drawn to comedies that know they’re ridiculous, but also deliver real emotional insight, Splitsville might be just the summer comedy you are looking for. It’s sharp—but also messy, like an open relationship that can’t quite commit.
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