Sundance 2026 Review: How to Divorce During the War

In Vilnius in 2022, Marija has a revelation that she wants to divorce her husband, Vytas, right before Russia invades Ukraine.

In Lithuania, struggling screenwriter Vytas assembles a newly purchased chair for his home office, which he quickly discards for something more familiar; subsequently, he goes about his household chores, which include ironing clothes and cleaning the bathroom. Setting up the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine is Vytas sitting down and watching a local newscast. On the other side of success is Marjia who is responsible for creating social media content that gets huge viewership numbers.  The divide widens further as Marjia reveals to Vytas that she wants their marriage to come to an end.

As with Foyle’s War where criminal activities did not stop in the UK while World War II was going on, How to Divorce During the War follows the same path as the ramifications of Russia invading the Ukraine adds another level of worry and stress to the daily lives of not only Ukrainians but to those living beside its borders.  Jobs get shifted elsewhere because of the political uncertainty and the schoolyard becomes a place of unrest as children use the political unrest as an excuse to act out their own personal frustrations on their classmates.

As Vytas gets accused as being boring by Marjia, the camerawork by cinematographer Narvydas Naujalis is nothing fancy as dolly tracks are favoured over going handheld. There is perfectly fine as the classical approach allows for longer takes which means that the pacing is not rushed and allows for the viewer to absorb what is taking place.  A slow zoom in the front windshield of a parked car heightens the escalating tensions taking place inside while not taking away from the performances of Marius Repšys and Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė.  Filmmaker Andrius Blaževičius has cleverly used the escalating war in the Ukraine as the backdrop to the domestic unrest caused by a family falling apart.

The 2026 Sundance Film Festival takes place January 22 to Feb. 1  2026, in person and online, and for more information visit sundance.org.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.