Now is the winter of our discontent in writer-director Andrius Blaževičius’s How to Divorce During the War – neither cautionary tale nor Wikihow guide, the Lithuanian filmmaker’s movie interrogates complacency and performativity in the attention age, with a lemon-squeeze of satire thrown in for that extra bite. Known for his sophomore feature, Runner [+lee también:
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It’s February 2022, and after thirty-something entertainment executive Marija (Jakštaitė) decides to divorce her husband of 12 years, the once-rising-star film director Vytas (Repšys), Russia invades Ukraine. In an unforgettable early scene, Marija unleashes a flood of rage upon him in the car as DoP Narvydas Naujalis’ lens slowly zooms and closes in on the two, marking just how the director wants us to be cautious about our proximity to these characters. As the primary breadwinner and Vilnius branch head of a delightfully dreary and nondescript content creation agency, Marija misses the young, fun and carefree Vytas. He now acts as a stay-at-home dad to their preteen daughter Dovilė (Amelija Adomaitytė) and prefers to sit around and order hipster beanies online.

This conjugal spat is not purely about the words thrown themselves; Blaževičius probes distance through camerawork, cool tones and context, making viewers lean in – almost literally – to find that connection, rather than let them be so easily sucked in by the drama. While never letting the emotional moments sink to the bottom of the story, the filmmaker prefers to capture the characters’ lives in largely still frames, adding a theatrical element. The music by Jakuc Rataj is led by a fittingly unsure, creaky piano, unsettling us through conflict unfolding at two distances: the personal and the political. To comfort herself after the news of her parents’ sudden divorce, Dovilė almost instinctively turns on the television to watch the horrors of the Russian invasion. It’s an eerie wake-up call: war can feel more familiar than familial battles.

Jakštaitė, who broke out with Runner, soars to new heights in this film as Marija and is officially a veritable Renate Reinsve for the Baltic cinema scene, especially after her turn in Gabrielė Urbonaitė’s Renovation [+lee también:
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Marija and Vytas may be characters, but they are also archetypes of how our own patterns of behaviour and complacency manifest themselves – and in which we so easily remain. The couple’s personal lives are falling apart, but they are confronted by a constant pressure to demonstrate that they are engaged with the world. Here, this means showing just how outspoken they are about the war in Ukraine: in today’s environment, it’s perform or be out-performed. But Vytas's parents, who consume Russian media without fuss or interrogation, represent the other side of how easily influenced we can be.

Blaževičius successfully finds humour in dark comedy and a touch of situational irony. The couple’s roles slowly switch, and Marija begins to unravel over the life she has given up. The filmmaker picks apart the discomfort of veering away from the status quo, while at the same time reminding us that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

How to Divorce During the War is a production by Lithuania’s M-Films, Luxembourg’s Red Lion, Ireland’s Feline Films and the Czech Republic’s Bionaut. New Europe Film Sales manages the movie’s world sales.