SPLITSVILLE
Splitsville: Exploring Modern Love with Michael Angelo Covino
IN THEATERS IN FRANCE ON SEPTEMBER 10 – Splitsville directed by and starring Michael Angelo Covino, with Adria Arjona, Dakota Johnson, and Kyle Marvin, is now showing!
[Back to its Cannes premiere.]
After The Climb (2020), a both funny and cruel portrait of male friendship, which was honored by Un Certain Regard, Michael Angelo Covino presents a new take on human relationships at the Cannes Première, this time confronting viewers with the fragility of modern romantic relationships.
Be it a quarrel on a ski slope, a chaotic funeral, or an act of betrayal revealing itself on a mountain pass during a bike rid — in The Climb, the bittersweet comedy that won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize in 2020, Michael Angelo Covino took a funny yet tender look at the paradoxical nature of male friendship over the years.
This debut film, constructed around a series of long, choreographed sequence shots, with its tongue-in-cheek humor and intimate drama, depicted the close friendship and awkwardness of Mike and Kyle, two childhood friends played by the filmmaker and Kyle Marvin, his co-writer.
Viewers are reunited with the duo, both on screen and writing the script in Splitsville, the second feature film by Michael Angelo Covino. In this new take on human imperfections, the authors of The Climb are this time exploring the flaws that can weaken — or strengthen — intimate relationships, reaffirming their penchant for portraying flawed yet deeply human characters.
This is the story of Carey, a kind-hearted forty-something man whose life falls apart when his wife, Ashley, asks him for a divorce. As he seeks help from Paul and Julie, two close friends, he realizes that the secret of their happiness is having an open relationship. However, when Carey crosses a line, the relationships between the characters turn to chaos.
“The thing that interests me are the times when people think they’re doing the right thing… but end up getting it wrong”, explains the American director, whose film also stars Adria Arjona, Dakota Johnson, and the French actress Judith Godrèche.
