Back in 2019, Michael Angelo Covino and his frequent collaborator, Kyle Marvin, presented their film The Climb at Cannes, a cringey, charming film about bike riders that felt perfectly programmed as it rode its debut stage at the cinematic equivalent of the Tour de France. The duo return to the Croisette with their latest venture, Splitsville, a film about the vagaries of marital infidelity that equally feels at home in the country, as French cinema has often portrayed relationship bonds more overtly elastic than in other, more staid cultures. Mixing goofiness with a sexual playfulness reminiscent of the likes of Blake Edwards or a myriad of French farces, Splitsville deftly navigates the complications and hypocrisies of so-called “open” relationships, stating in ways both broad and subtle how the choices we make both socially and sexually are often not in one’s long-term interest, no matter how satisfying it feels in the moment.
‘Splitsville’ Follows Two Couples Who Become Intertwined

Imagw Via Cannes Film Festival

Carey (Marvin) is a bear of a man, driving to his friend Paul’s (Covino) luxurious beach house with his attractive but seemingly unsatisfied wife, Ashley (Adria Arjona). Discussing how, after only a dozen months of marriage, things are drying up, she attempts to spice up the ride with some oral attention, only for a minivan trying to pass to flip over and kill one of the occupants. After this shattering event, she decides it’s time for a divorce, and Marvin heads off through field and stream to head to his friends’ place, leaving his wife and belongings behind. When arriving at Paul’s place, he encounters Paul’s wife, Julie (Dakota Johnson), a potter who creates her arts and crafts in this summer house that looks like the stuff in design and architectural magazines. Their son, Rus (Simon Webster), is a hellion, sinking a neighbour’s jet ski while his mother and father cover for his obvious obfuscation.
The spirit of truthtelling is then put on its head when Julie and Paul admit to Marvin that they’re in an open marriage, free to have sex with whomever they want without needing to provide the details unless directly asked. The arrangement is presented as both modern and workable, and as the film unfolds, the ridiculousness of this moral pretzel is laid bare, so that by the end, just about every conceivable iteration of who is banging whom is played out.
Dakota Johnson Is a Standout in a Committed Cast

Covino and Marvin’s dynamic is well-honed, and their verbal barbs and extremely silly physical antics provide much of the film’s energy. Arjona navigates her role well, being at one flaky and damaged, striving to make sense of her own conflicted feelings while her former partner makes things super difficult by being super supportive and engaged. It’s Johnson who shines the most as her comic timing, sense of seduction, and over-protective maternal air are the film’s greatest gift, allowing even the most over-the-top comedic moments to still engender elements of empathy and pathos.

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O-T Fagbenle, David Castañeda, Charlie Gillespie, Prince Rodn3y, and Nicholas Braun make up just some of the spurned lovers that end up orbiting the principal characters as the film moves along, with each hookup adding another member to the tribe. It’s all preposterous, of course, but somehow, thanks to a clever script and the intensity of performances, it manages to be on the right side of believability. Covino directs the film with great kinetic energy, allowing for the moments of physicality to feel as much at home in an action film as in this romantic comedy. An extended punch-up between the two best friends is gloriously excessive, making the spilling of wine on a $20,000 carpet (or was it $25,000?) that much more impactful.
Yet it’s the carefully realized script, with its deft navigation between the broad tonal shifts, that sets the film apart. In a lesser work, it would be easy to be lost as the dynamic between characters continues to shift, or to find the intertwined relationships more tiresome than compelling. But thanks to the ways that each character is carefully drawn, from the core four to the colourful characters that surround them, Splitsville manages to keep it all together, finding clarity amongst the chaos.
‘Splitsville’ Is a Great Mishmash of Tone

There are moments when you’d almost prefer these individuals to just get a divorce already. And while for the most part the wild swings work out, it’s easy to see how some would simply find the entire group tiresome, little more than comedy stand-ins rather than fully dimensionalized characters. Yet this cynical reading doesn’t seem to do justice to how carefully structured the silliness of the situation has been accomplished, nor does it acknowledge the inherent ridiculousness of the “open relationship” question and how it trades off one obfuscation for another. So while not every joke will land (just as not every punch the two friends throw hits its mark), what works does so quite wonderfully.
In the end, Splitsville is a lot of stupid fun told smartly, unafraid to lean into the salacious while still somehow maintaining an emotional groundedness. It’s a droll comedy at times, exuberantly over-the-top at others, resulting in a tonally shifting storyline that navigates everything from fishtank follies to reversed vasectomies with aplomb. There are times when the film is full of laugh-out-loud, outrageous moments, and then others when things are more subdued or even sardonic. Despite these disparate elements, things all somehow come together, resulting in a film as messy and lovable as those engaged in the relationships we see chaotically unfold in the film.
Splitsville premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Splitsville

Splitsville is the cringe open relatioship drama you didn’t know you wanted to fall in love with.

Release Date

August 22, 2025

Runtime

100 minutes

Director

Michael Angelo Covino

Writers

Kyle Marvin

Pros & Cons

The goofy sex farce of it all works well.
The film is full of committed performances with Dakota Johnson a highlight.
The film maintains a palpable sense of anxiety around the situation throughout

It slightly loses pace towards the end as things get wrapped up.