Michael Angelo Covino’s "Splitsville:" a Divorce from the Traditional Rom-Com

In 2019, first-time director, Michael Angelo Covino had his feature film, The Climb premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. An extraordinary feat for any filmmaker, especially for their first project. Six years later, Covino's next film would premiere at that same festival, this time with a much larger budget and a star-studded cast, but the same amount of sincerity and heart. 2025's Splitsville is one of the most unique films of the year with a strong script and an unbridled drive to be the first "unromantic comedy."

Just like The Climb, Michael Angelo Covino both directs and stars in Splitsville, along with co-star and writing partner, Kyle Marvin. The story largely centers around Marvin's character, Carey. After Carey's wife, Ashley (Adria Arjona) tells him that she wants a divorce, he becomes distraught and goes to the house of his best friend, Paul, (Covino) and his wife, Julie (Dakota Johnson). They tell him that their relationship seems so perfect because they have been practicing ethical non-monogamy, in other words, they can hook up with whoever they want outside of their marriage, no strings attached. While initially dumbfounded by the idea, Carey thinks it might just be the key to saving his marriage with Ashley. What follows is an incredibly messy 90 minutes of everyone slowly realizing that maybe they're not cut out for something quite so... modern.

2025 has been a fantastic year for original movies, and Splitsville is just further fuel to the fire. There's something very classic Hollywood about how it relies so heavily on dialogue and character dynamics instead of larger-than-life themes. Covino's last film, The Climb was essentially just 90 minutes of two friends talking on a bike ride. These characters find themself in a profoundly unorthodox situation, but not so outlandish that audiences won't be able to relate. When you get past all the ridiculous laughs and sensational plot, Splitsville is just trying to say one simple thing: relationships are hard.

Multiple-person relationships are delicate and hard-to-maintain, especially in a society where it is not the norm. The film neither glamorizes nor demonizes the practice of polyamory. It exploits the inherent comedy of people knowing intimate details about one another, their tireless attempts to keep the peace, and their extravagant failures of the ladder.

Perhaps the best scene in Splitsville comes the morning after two characters hook up for the first time and a wild, almost cartoony fight sequence erupts. Characters chase each other around a mansion, smash through windows, the whole shabang. It's a direct subversion of audience expectations and feels like Covino is practically calling out: "stop taking everything so seriously!" Perhaps life would be easier if we just examined our love lives with a touch more humor. While the script does meander a bit during the second and third act, there's just enough comedy to keep audiences entertained.

Between this and Materialists, Dakota Johnson has had quite a year when it comes to starring in original movies about the complexities of love. Let's hope that for the sake of her as an actress and for us as audience members, she sticks to it. Kyle Martin gives an incredible performance as Carey, audiences will find it extremely easy to empathize with him as well as sit back and laugh at his plight. Let's hope Michael Angelo Covino never stops working with him.

Splitsville is by no means an all-time favorite of 2025, but it's still reassuring to see big studios like Neon produce original scripts of human stories. It's a worthwhile watch for your next trip to the movies...just maybe not for a date.