Gym teacher Carey (Kyle Marvin) and life coach Ashley (Adria Arjona) have been married for 14 months, and seem to still to be happily in love with one another. But after witnessing a death experience, Ashley announces that she wants a divorce, and that she has been unfaithful, and starts to read a letter she had been working on. Before she can finish, Carey takes off, jumping out of the car and running to the home of his childhood best friend Paul (Michael Angelo Covino) and his wife Julie (Dakota Johnson). They tell Carey that the secret to their relationship is that they’ve decided to have an open marriage. Since people usually break up over guilt, they made sleeping with other people OK, so there is no guilt. However, when Julie and Carey decide to test this theory, it sends Paul into a rage, and all chaos breaks out. Carey moves back in with his wife, declaring he is OK with an open marriage, but the situation quickly proves to be awkward as he starts to become buddies with each new guy Ashley brings home, and the apartment becomes a hangout place for her exes. Meanwhile, Julie and Paul are also dealing with the fallout of their open marriage, which may not have been as open as they thought.

Splitsville was written by stars Michael Angelo Covino & Kyle Marvin, and directed by Covino. Covino & Marvin had previously worked together on The Climb, and this film has a similar tone and structure. It is a wild, often slapstick comical romp about relationships, which also has a surprising amount of earnest emotion given the often absurd circumstances. The characters are truly trying to find love, despite going about things in all the wrong ways. The film will have audiences laughing out loud as it finds this unique blend of emotional drama, over-the-top situations, and hilarious physical comedy. Early on Covino & Marvin prove they are willing to do anything in this movie, from gratuitous nudity to an amazing, laugh-out-loud, unforgettable fight scene that both goes on for way too long, as well and not long enough. There is just something about watching two grown men fight like kids, as things quickly escalate into WWE style wrestling moves, throwing things at each other, and destroying the home in the process. At the same time, there are two tired old guys, so they also call for time outs to catch their breaths, or to save Paul’s son’s fish from a smashed fish tank. Covino & Marvin have such great comedic chemistry—their longtime off-screen friendship really shows. Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona also fit great into this wacky world. Both actresses are charming as they often play the straight man to the ridiculousness happenings with Carey and Paul. As the guys try to win back their women, trying some absurd things to make them jealous in hopes they will realize what they’re missing. Often stealing the scene is Paul and Ashley’s precocious and wild son Russ (Simon Webster), who’s constantly getting into trouble and causing chaos of his own—none of which ever seems to really phase his parents. Nicholas Braun (Succession) also has a fun, small role as Matt, one of Ashely’s new lovers, who’s hired to perform as a mentalist at Russ’ birthday party.

Things get quite crazy and insane during this film, with different characters hooking up with one another. I didn’t really know who I ultimately wanted to end up with whom, but I was captivated and entertained the whole time.

NEON/Decal Releasing have released Splitsville on Blu-ray, DVD, & Digital. We were sent the Blu-ray version for review. The film is shot on 35mm, and the visual presentation is excellent, with a clean, clear picture, with just a natural and pleasant level of film grain, and a solid level of detail throughout. The film is creatively shot, with these beautiful panning shots that sometimes weave the viewer through the action/scenes. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels to provide an immersive experience. There’s often a lot of craziness happening in the background of scenes, which plays out offscreen in the rear and side audio.

The Blu-ray release contains a 7-minute making of featurette as well as two 30-second promos and the trailer for the film. The disc is packed in a standard HD keepcase. Our review copy did not include any slipcover. As with all Decal releases, no digital copy is included.

What’s Included:

Film (1:44:39):

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Audio Description DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0/li>
• Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras:

• The Making of Splitsville (7:14)
  The cast/writers talk about the tone and premise of the film, Covino & Marvin’s longtime friendship/collaborations, the stunts, the cast, the use of improv, filming at the theme park, shooting on 35mm film, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with writer/director Michael Angelo Covino (“Paul”), writer/producer Kyle Marvin (“Carey”), stunt coordinator Tyler Hall, producer Emily Korteweg, and actors Nicholas Braun (“Matt”) & Simon Webster (“Russ”).
• Trailer (2:21)
• Guilt (:31) – Promo
• Normal (:31) – Promo

Final Thoughts:

Splitsville is a wild, wacky film that’s far from your typical rom-com, but mixes earnest emotional drama with laugh-out-loud physical comedy. Michael Angelo Covino & Kyle Marvin make a great team and aren’t afraid to go completely over-the-top to laughs. I enjoyed their previous joint venture, The Climb, and their chemistry continues to blossom here. They are joined by delightful co-stars Dakota Johnson & Adria Arjona, who not only play the wives dealing with the antics of their man-child husbands, but also deliver many comedic moments themselves. NEON’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds great, and includes a short behind-the-scenes featurette. This is an easy recommendation for fans of the cast, or those just looking for a wacky and wild new take on a relationship comedy.