“Be careful what you wish for” is the phrase I think best describes the state of rom-coms—and movies in general—in 2025. So thank god nobody was wishing for something like Splitsville, or the even more bonkers The Threesome. Because unlike the never-ending stream of reboots and sequels coming down the pike, both of these films are refreshingly original entries into a genre in crisis.
Let’s start with Splitsville, which stars Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Kyle Marvin, and Michael Angelo Covino. It may skew more comedy than romance, but the movie is still a modern boy-meets-girl story at heart. And its absurd moments feel far less contrived (and therefore, less cringey) than its contemporaries.
Johnson stars as Julie, a stay-at-home mom and ceramicist. She’s married to Paul (Scorvino), an egomaniacal real estate tycoon who, we quickly learn, isn’t actually very good at his job. The couple live an idyllic life on Long Island, the picture of millennial success, at least according to the type who buy $500 T-shirts and $20,000 rugs. And when Paul’s best friend Carey (Marvin) reveals that his wife of just over a year, a life coach named Ashley (Arjona), has been cheating on him, Paul and Julie offer him refuge at their stunning multi-million dollar compound. To Carey, they’re perfect—wealthy, beautiful, loving. So he’s astonished when he discovers that the secret to their marital bliss is non-monogamy. After he sleeps with Julie, though, Carey realizes that maybe Paul isn’t as cool with an open relationship as he claims.
Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Adria Arjona, Dakota Johnson in Splitsville.
Courtesy Everett Collection
There are elements from your favorite rom-coms of yore, including unrealistic hijinks, gags that balloon out of control, and quirky bit parts written for actors who seem genuinely excited to be a part of the project. (Nicholas Braun is impeccably cast as “Matt the Mentalist,” while OT Fagbenle aces the suave, Mr. Steal Your Girl stereotype.) Where the film shines is most is when it deviates from the playbook. It’s not a Cinderella story with a meet-cute, followed by a seemingly insurmountable obstacle preventing the perfect couple from an eternity of love, and concluding with a happily ever after. In Splitsville, our protagonists never quite overcome the problems—jealousy, insecurity—with which they’re faced. To some degree, its ending is more like real life: messy, incomplete, a little ambiguous. But these differences work in the film’s favor.
Likewise, The Threesome, starring Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, and Ruby Cruz, has a rather ridiculous plot: Connor (Hauer-King) has pined after the effervescent Olivia (Deutch) for years, with little success. But when his BFF Greg (Jaboukie Young-White) encourages Connor to flirt with a lonely bar patron named Jenny (Cruz) in order to make Olivia jealous, things go surprisingly well. Too well. As in, both Olivia and Jenny find themselves pregnant with Connor’s babies after the titular sex act. (I told you it was a bonkers storyline.) Throw in a spot-on supporting performance from Josh Segarra, who plays Olivia’s married situationship, and you have all the makings of a classic.
