Michael Angelo Covino’s comedy drama Splitsville, starring Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Michael Angelo Covino, and Kyle Marvin, revolves around two best friends and their partners as they navigate marriage and the challenges that come with it. When Carey and Ashley, who’d been together for fourteen years, encountered a rough patch in their marriage, Carey discovered that his best friend, Paul, and his wife, Julie, were in an open marriage, and apparently the arrangement helped them stay together. Since they had a kid, Russ, and were tied together financially as well, a divorce wasn’t really an easy solution. Carey wasn’t sure if that was the best way to handle insecurity, but given how happy Paul and Julie looked, he wondered if maybe an open marriage was the key to a forever romance. Will Carey try the same formula? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
How did Carey and Julie’s one-night stand affect her marriage?
After Ashley announced she wanted a divorce, Carey ended up at Paul and Julie’s beach house. They comforted him at first, and they gradually revealed the secret sauce that made their marriage work. They made it clear that they were not polyamorous; they simply liked to have multiple sexual experiences instead of keeping themselves exclusive. Carey wondered if sleeping with someone they knew could affect their dynamics, but Paul was confident that would never be the case. But soon, jealousy took over! One night, when Paul was away on a work trip (Julie was confident that he was sleeping with someone else), Julie and Carey slept together. Julie was clearly not comfortable with their arrangement anymore, but she didn’t wish to overwhelm Paul. She was attracted to Carey, so she decided to let loose. Later, when Paul learned about their one-night stand, he was furious. Carey didn’t expect such an extreme reaction, given how cool they pretended to be while discussing their arrangement. It was obvious that Paul wasn’t okay with Julie sleeping with someone he knew, especially his best friend. Julie sat Paul and Carey down, and the three of them agreed that the decision they had made wasn’t quite wise, and Julie and Carey would not sleep with each other again, since it had clearly hurt Paul. Carey decided to go back to Ashley’s place. She was shocked to see him casually having a sandwich in the kitchen. Later, Carey proposed that, instead of getting a divorce, they could opt for an open marriage to avoid the legal hassle, and if they fall in love with someone else, they could eventually get a divorce. Carey didn’t object or express his frustration when Ashley brought one man after another back home. Instead, he comforted the men when Ashley broke up with them. Carey pretended not to care about her flings, and always chose to support Ashley.
Why did Julie decide to separate from Paul?
Although Carey had agreed to never pursue Julie, he felt extremely jealous when Brent, the father of Russ’ friend, started to hit on Julie. Brent was a smooth talker, and Carey was afraid that Julie would be impressed by him. When he expressed his concern to Julie, she wondered why it bothered him so much, and Carey pretended as if he was trying to stop Julie to protect his best friend from getting hurt. Julie reminded him that Paul didn’t care, so Carey ultimately admitted that he cared because he didn’t understand the emotional sophistication Paul and Julie believed in. According to Carey, when two people sleep together, their subconscious bodies tend to make a connection. Julie didn’t know how to react; she simply kissed Carey on the cheek and walked away. The next thing we know, Julie wanted a divorce from Paul, and it turns out it was not because of Carey. Paul had to shut down his company because he was overleveraged in real estate, and it ultimately blew up. Their accounts were frozen, and they could potentially lose all of their property. Julie had no idea what Paul was up to, and she was upset about the fact that he’d risked their lives. Paul had convinced Carey to have a word with Julie, and he soon figured that she was a mess and Paul was responsible for all that she had to deal with. During their conversation, Julie revealed that she never slept with anyone outside her marriage. She only pretended to be in an open relationship because she assumed that was what Paul wanted, and she thought that maybe it would help smoothen their relationship. But clearly that didn’t really work. Carey was the only man Julie had slept with during their open marriage phase, and Carey was overjoyed when he found out about it. He figured Julie cared about him as much as he did about her, and it was not just all in his head. They kissed before Carey left.
Did Carey and Ashley get back together?
After multiple flings, Ashley felt drawn towards Carey. She started to notice him, and she craved his attention. One evening, she even proposed staying home with Carey, but he turned down her offer because he had plans with Julie. Meanwhile, after pretty much losing everything he once cherished, Paul ended up at Carey and Ashley’s place. He begged Paul to have a word with Julie and convince her to take him back. Carey pretended to not take spoken to Julie recently. He knew he’d broken the trust of his best friend, and he wasn’t ready to admit to it yet. Julie and Paul met after a long gap when Russ got into trouble at school. After one of his classmates embarrassed him in front of his class, Russ took the ‘eye for an eye’ route and punished him, though he admitted he didn’t want to break his arm and that was a genuine accident. Carey was also present at the scene because he was the gym teacher. The principal repeatedly mentioned that he had a zero-tolerance policy towards violence, and he ultimately announced that Russ would be expelled. Carey loved the boy, and he figured that he could afford to lose his job, but Russ deserved another chance. He lied, stating that he’d asked Russ to attack his classmate, so obviously, he was fired. After they walked out of the principal’s room, Julie had a word with Paul. She’d learned that Paul had taken out loans in Russ’ name, and she was convinced that he couldn’t stoop any lower. Paul reassured Julie that he was trying to find a way to make it work with the banks—he planned on declaring bankruptcy in the hopes that it would help him reset financially. He knew he’d messed up, but he was trying to fix whatever he had left. Before parting ways, he asked Julie if she was sleeping with Carey, and when she confirmed it, he admitted that her decision had hurt him. Julie responded that Carey was kind and trustworthy, and she didn’t care how Paul felt about their affair because he’d practically jeopardized their lives.
During Splitsville’s ending, we discover that Paul ended up in prison for financial fraud, but Carey continued to stay in touch. Russ didn’t know that his father was behind bars; he was told he was building a hotel. Julie had sent Paul divorce papers, but he hadn’t yet responded. He was hopeful that maybe one day Julie would take him back, and he refused to accept that she’d found love in his best friend. Paul was eventually released from prison, and even though Carey and Julie were together, he continued to live in the same house. After realizing that Julie was happy with Carrie (they even worked together), Paul signed the divorce papers, though he admitted that he was still in love with Julie. At Russ’ birthday party, Paul brought a woman with him and dressed her in the same dress as Julie. He clearly wanted her to feel jealous, and it worked to an extent.
Meanwhile, Ashley too arrived at the party, and she decided not to beat around the bush. She approached Carey and passionately performed to a romantic song. She admitted that she was still in love with him. Carey was disappointed that it took Ashley so much time to finally realize that she loved him, and he wondered if it was already too late. The only reason why he was still friends with her ex-lovers was because he wanted her to feel jealous, and it was painful for him to watch her get involved with different people. But now that he was finally happy with Julie, she came into his life to admit that she’d always loved him. The timing couldn’t have been more off! Carey and Ashley decided to remain friends, but soon their hug escalated to a kiss, and Carey didn’t know how to feel about it. Meanwhile, Julie confronted Paul about the fact that his girlfriend was wearing the same dress as hers, and Paul simply stated that he was never going to stop trying to make her feel jealous. Paul confessed that he was still madly in love with her and he had every intention of not repeating the same mistakes he’d made in the past. During their conversation, Paul revealed that he’d never slept with any women outside their marriage. He’d proposed to be in an open marriage because he always thought Julie was out of his league, and one day or another, she would eventually leave him for another man. So, to stop that from happening, he thought that an open marriage was the solution.
In Splitsville’s ending, Julie and Paul made love at their son’s birthday party, and as luck would have it, Carey walked in on them. Later, when Julie joined the party, she learned that Carey and Ashley had also gotten intimate. When she asked Carey about it, he hinted that she too had slept with Paul. Ashley somehow assumed that it was the perfect time to propose to Carey, and he didn’t know how to react. Amidst all the chaos, a fire broke out, and Paul jumped in to save the party. Fast-forward almost a year, and Carey and Ashley welcomed their son into the world. It can be assumed that after the party, Carey realized that Julie was still in love with Paul, and he too was deeply affected by everything Ashley said and did. Even though their brief affair helped them navigate through the shortcomings of their marriages, Carey realized that he wanted to build a future with Ashley, just like he’d always thought he would. Ashley and Carey were in love, and now as parents, they had to be more responsible than ever.
Were Paul and Julie still in a relationship?
Splitsville’s ending revealed that Paul and Julie continued to occasionally get physically intimate, but they were not really back together. After everything they’d been through, Julie needed time to process things, but clearly there were days when she couldn’t resist being with Paul. She enjoyed watching Paul chase her, and it had become their shared kink. We can assume that after declaring bankruptcy, Paul was trying his best to get his life back on track. He knew he’d put his family at risk and hopefully in the future he won’t take such risky decisions. Perhaps that was all the more reason why Julie needed time to consider getting back with Paul. Their love for Russ was all the more reason why they couldn’t really lose all contact with one another. Julie and Paul’s beach house was sold off, and it was turned into an Airbnb. Paul, Julie, Carey, and Ashley booked a stay there to spend some time together. Although they’d been through a lot of complications, they realized that they cherished each other as friends, and they didn’t want to lose contact. Julie and Ashley became good friends as well, and Julie introduced her to pottery. Just like the last time they’d been at the beach house, this time too Russ and his friend took off on a jet ski, and the Airbnb host accused him of stealing it. Paul and Carey got into a physical fight with him; they refused to accept such an accusation. Julie and Ashley watched the men act like children, and they chose not to interfere because they thought it was quite funny. Even after everything that they’d been through, the men hadn’t changed at all.
