The hook of this film is that it purports to be about a married couple in an open relationship, meaning the husband and wife can have sex with other people outside the marriage. Most people who engage in open relationships or poly-amorous ones do so because they realize that the idea of monogamy or the idea of being with one person for the rest of their lives and having that person be everything for them is a fantasy or a delusion. It's for people who think monogamy doesn't work or it's not suited for them, and that's okay. It's genuine for those involved, and this film sets up an exploration of those genuine relationships, but that's ultimately not what we see here.
Kyle Marvin (WeCrashed and The Climb) stars as Carey Grant, a gym teacher at a private, elementary school, somewhere in New York. He's friends with a wealthy couple. He's also married to a woman and they're driving up to visit that wealthy couple's beach house for the weekend. He's a tall, awkward guy, but he's sweet and has a good heart. He's a bit of a dork. He might try to be tough or manly, but he comes across as more of a dweeb. During the drive to his friend's home, Carey's wife announces she wants a divorce, which sends him on a tailspin.
Dakota Johnson (Materialists and Fifty Shades of Grey) also stars as Julie, the wife to Carey's best friend. She's an artist that makes pottery. She sells them, so it's also a business for her. She's an absolutely beautiful woman, stunningly gorgeous, which actually is an important plot point later. She's married and has a child who's probably around 10 years-old. Her child goes to the private school where Carey teaches. When Carey takes a shower, Julie and her husband have no problem with walking into the bathroom and staring at Carey's naked body. She and her husband clearly have a comfortable-enough relationship that they don't mind seeing Carey nude.
There seems to be an intimacy between them that blurs any boundaries. It also seems like they've been friends for years. Carey and Julie's husband seem like they've been friends their whole lives or what could be for decades. Carey also seems like the kind of person who has no problem sharing personal details about his life or marriage, so why wouldn't Julie and her husband not do the same. However, Carey is surprised when he's told casually that Julie and her husband are in an open marriage. It makes no sense as to why Carey didn't know this before that weekend visit. Unless being in an open marriage is brand new to them, but it's played as if they'd been open for a while.
Michael Angelo Covino (The Climb) co-stars as Paul, the so-called best friend to Carey, or the only male friend to Carey. He's a real estate agent who does a lot of big-time deals in Manhattan. He has a very luxurious lifestyle, but it means that his work is demanding and often keeps him too busy to spend time with his wife, Julie, or their child, Russ, played by Simon Webster (From and Lucas the Spider). In real life, demanding work schedules and long-distance travel or living situations are legitimate reasons for people to be in open marriages, but that's not the stated reasons for Paul and Julie. There's an internal, psychological and self-esteem issue that Paul has. Yet, it makes no sense why Paul wouldn't reveal that to Carey at any point. He does reveal it to Julie at the end of the film, but why he wouldn't tell Carey at any point before that ending feels disingenuous or incongruous to Paul and Carey being best friends.
As a result, it makes the whole open marriage idea feel like a gimmick or a crutch in this narrative. It never comes across as a genuine idea. It's just a gimmick or an excuse to do what most romantic comedies do. There have been romantic films with love triangles or love quadrangles. It's basically a game of musical chairs or ping-pong where people bounce back-and-forth between old lovers and new ones with no real reason except proximity. For most in poly-amorous or open marriages, the idea is to avoid jealousy. This film is all about jealousy and how it's mainly the driving force. If this film was about the characters overcoming that jealousy, then that would be a good trajectory. Yet, I'm not convinced that overcoming jealousy is the ultimate point here.
Adria Arjona (Blink Twice and Hit Man) rounds out the cast as Ashley, the wife to Carey. She's the one who kicks off the whole thing when she announces she wants to divorce Carey. An early conversation gives some insight into why she would want to divorce him. We get what drives her away to some degree, but we don't get what attracted her to him in the first place or why she married him at all or even what would bring her back to him. By her actions, she simply wants to explore her sexuality with as many different people as possible, including with other women. Of all the characters, she seems to be the one who is overcoming jealousy, but, by the end, that doesn't seem to be where she lands. Because the film isn't told from her perspective, we get no further insight into what she thinks or what she was even looking for even when she's dating all these random people. She says it's not about the sex but that's really all we can gather from what this film shows.
What this film shows is basically four people lying about being in an open marriage when it's really about four people on the rebound, fumbling their way back to monogamy, which felt like squandered potential. Covino who not only plays Paul but also is the director and co-writer here crafted a narrative that was more or less about two married couples who intersect in what turns out to be vulnerable times for both of them. Now, this kind of intersection could have been interesting, if there were more investment in not simply the jealousy tactics that consume the film but more examination of the meaning of these relationships, especially between Carey and Paul that provided more understanding of that dynamic prior to the events depicted here.
Rated R for language, sexual content and graphic nudity.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 44 mins.
In theaters.