Marija wants out of her 12-year marriage to Vytas, whose film career is floundering. The two creatives have settled into a dull, domestic groove in urban Vilnius, Lithuania, and she craves something different. The morning after their bitter conversation, the world awakens to the news that Russia has invaded Ukraine.
While navigating tense family dynamics, Vytas (Marius Repšys) and Marija (Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė ) attempt to make life seem normal for their daughter. At the same time, they are grappling with the complexities of war in a neighboring country. Their sympathies are firmly with Ukraine, but how much help is one morally required to provide. Should you open your home to refugees? Is working in a food pantry enough? Do you keep working for a company that does business with Russia, or do you quit? How do you deal with family members who rely on Russian propaganda for news?
Writer-director Andrius Blaževičius does not find easy answers. The film is thoughtful, and does a particularly good job of exploring how a child’s understanding of good and bad collides with moral complexity. But the central characters’ erratic behavior and opaque motivations confuse the marital drama.
On the KPCW rating system, “How to Divorce During the War” receives three suns out of five.
