SHOWTIMES THRU 6/3: 7:15p | 9:30p [ ENDS 6/3 ]
SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW - THURSDAY 5/27 - RECEPTION @ 6:00p - SCREENING @ 7:00p - Followed by video Q&A with actress Zoe Lister-Jones presented by the Athens Jewish Film Festival
SYNOPSIS:
'Breaking Upwards' explores a young, real-life New York couple who, four years in and battling codependency, decide to intricately strategize their own break up. Based on an actual experiment devised by director/actor Daryl Wein and actress Zoe Lister-Jones, the film loosely interprets a year in their lives exploring alternatives to monogamy, and the madness that ensues. An uncensored look at young love, lust, and the pangs of codependency, 'Breaking Upwards' follows its characters as they navigate each others' emotions across the city they love. It begs the question: is it ever possible to grow apart together?
REVIEW:
Separation anxiety proves tough to manage in BREAKING UPWARDS, a thoroughly charming romantic comedy that takes a fresh look at a spoiled relationship. After four years together, Zoe (Zoe Lister-Jones) and Daryl (Daryl Wein, who also directs), a 20-something Jewish couple in New York, can no longer ignore the stale sex and too-comfortable routines. Reluctant to part ways, the couple agree to a modified time-out: three days a week they will live apart and have no contact. Being typically self-aware urbanites — she’s an actor, he’s a writer and a baby-sitter — they draw up a list of rules. (“I get Whole Foods.” “I get all the city parks.”) The grief from their parents is divided equally.
Inspired by their own experiences, Mr. Wein and Ms. Lister-Jones have produced a screenplay (co-written by Peter Duchan) that’s startlingly humane and unafraid of loose ends. Providing stellar support as the couple’s emotionally invested parents, Julie White, Andrea Martin and Peter Friedman deliver dialogue that’s as sharp and free of cliché as Alex Bergman’s blessedly serene cinematography.
Like many relationships, BREAKING UPWARDS starts in bed and ends on the street. The journey in between, however, feels as new as anything a tiny budget and a boatload of talent could produce.
nytimes.com
