Premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, Andrius Blaževičius’ drama How to Divorce During the War explores how a Lithuanian couple, Marija and Vytas, grapple with personal separation and the sudden, jarring geopolitical reality of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, examining how proximity to conflict strains modern comfort.
Here is the kicker.
The Bottom Line:
- The Premise: Marija decides to divorce her husband Vytas, only for Russia to invade Ukraine the very next day.
- The Festival Run: The film made its debut at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival within the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
- The Core Theme: Writer-director Andrius Blaževičius uses the narrative to interrogate how European comfort and complacency crack under geopolitical pressure.
Navigating the Personal and Political Upheaval at Sundance
When How to Divorce During the War unspooled to a sold-out crowd at The Ray Theatre during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, the emotional resonance in the room was palpable. Set in Lithuania and competing in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, the feature wastes no time establishing its high-wire act.
The day after Marija—played by Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė—decides to end her marriage to Vytas (Marius Repšys), the geopolitical landscape shifts permanently. Russia invades Ukraine. Suddenly, the logistics of splitting up, managing custody of their daughter Dovile (Amelija Adomaitytė), and dividing assets take on a surreal, suffocating weight.
Jakštaitė didn’t have to look far to find the emotional core of her character. Speaking to audiences after the premiere, she recalled the exact morning she learned of the invasion. The actor noted that “everything changed” overnight, making the project deeply personal for the entire Lithuanian cast and crew who lived through the sudden shift in regional security.
The Ideological Tug-of-War Between Art House and Capitalism
Vytas is an artist wanting to make art house films and is broke, while Marija operates with a more pragmatic, emotionless view of labor. Gintare Parulyte, who plays Marija’s boss Ona, captures this tension neatly, highlighting how the film holds a mirror up to contemporary economic traps. The husband’s pursuit of art house films stands in stark contrast to corporate survival, raising a universal question about how modern couples handle financial desperation.
Dataing the Human Cost: Production and Festival Context
| Film Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrius Blaževičius |
| Key Cast | Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė, Marius Repšys, Amelija Adomaitytė, Gintare Parulyte |
| Festival Venue | The Ray Theatre, Sundance Film Festival |
| Competition Section | World Cinema Dramatic Competition |
Young Dovile is caught in the crossfire of her parents’ split, forced to process adult instability while absorbing the ambient panic of a changing world.
Blaževičius draws on his own childhood memories of economic collapse in 1990s Lithuania to shape these scenes. Kids are never blind to systemic shock, and the film argues that the financial and emotional scars formed during childhood crises cast long shadows into adulthood.
The Trap of European Comfort
At its heart, How to Divorce During the War trains its lens on a very specific modern malaise: the addiction to safety. Blaževičius has pointed out in discussions surrounding the project that Europeans have grown accustomed to a high baseline of comfort, creating an inherent resistance to making necessary sacrifices when history knocks on the door.
When the safety nets we build begin to fray, the moral compass naturally recalibrates. Marija and Vytas are forced to discover whether their pristine domestic arrangements were ever anything more than a luxury built on borrowed time.
Drop a line in the comments below. Do you think contemporary cinema should lean harder into immediate geopolitical realities, or do audiences look to the silver screen for an escape from global anxiety?
