How to Divorce During the War

Vilnius, 2022. Whilst their daughter Dovile unsuspectingly plays the violin, her parents Marija and Vytas are ending their marriage. There is no time to come to terms with this personal drama; barely 24 hours later, Russia invades Ukraine. Suddenly, the couple are confronted with tensions and conflicts on both a small and a large scale. Award-winning director Andrius Blaževičius’s How to Divorce During the War is a pitch-black dramedy that reveals the petty sides of people in crisis. For instance, a few weeks after her triumphant resignation, Marija returns, tail between her legs, to her employer, a social media company with Russian connections. Vytas, too, is forced to swallow his pride when he has no choice but to move in with his pro-Russian parents. Blaževičius portrays the Lithuanian duo in all their clumsiness. This makes How to Divorce During the War a sharp, humorous and empathetic analysis of people on a knife's edge.