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This is a short series of facts and statistics: In 2022<\/a>, nearly 7,400 married couples filed for divorce in Lithuania. Out of those couples, 54.9% had a child under the age of 18. On Feb. 24 of that year<\/a>, Russia invaded Ukraine. By the end of the year, more than 70,000<\/a> Ukrainian refugees came to Lithuania in search of shelter. For many people, these statistics may just seem like numbers, and they treat them as such. Yet, this train of thought fails to recognize that these numbers are reflections of actual human beings. In order to humanize these statistics, <\/strong>director Andrius Bla\u017eevi\u010dius (\u201cRunner\u201d) takes a simple approach: explore the story behind them.<\/p>\n The premise for \u201cHow to Divorce During the War\u201d is aptly described in its title. While waiting in the car for their daughter\u2019s violin practice to end, the branch head of an online entertainment company, Marija (\u017dygimant\u0117 Elena Jak\u0161tait\u0117, \u201cRenovation\u201d), asks for a divorce from Vytas (Marius Rep\u0161ys, \u201cThe Saint\u201d), her out-of-work filmmaker husband. The ensuing car ride and the rest of the night is painfully awkward for this Lithuanian couple, mainly due to their struggle to inform their daughter. The morning after, though, they turn on their phones and television to be met with the news that Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a full-scale war. What follows is an intimate exploration of the divorced spouses navigating through this new world \u2014 one without a spouse, one with a neighboring country at war.<\/p>\n Both Marija and Vytas respond to these changes in their own ways. In regards to their personal life, Vytas retreats to his parents\u2019 home in order to complete his screenplay, whilst Marija parties at a rave with her new partner. They <\/strong>also respond to the conflict of their neighboring countries: Vytas works at a food bank while participating in artful protests, and Marija welcomes in a family of refugees to fill her empty home. Yet, they also find themselves in circumstances beyond <\/strong>their control \u2014 circumstances that go against their values; Vytas\u2019 parents find themselves consuming Russian propaganda and Marija\u2019s company refuses to pull their investments out of Russia. Their mirrored responses coalesce <\/strong>in Dovil\u0117 (Amelija Adomaityt\u0117, debut), their daughter, who finds herself, like her parents, affected by both the divorce and the war.<\/p>\n As a film about the war, Bla\u017eevi\u010dius uses a fascinating approach. One would typically expect explicit footage of the war, scenes of a battleground, POVs of soldiers \u2014 but Bla\u017eevi\u010dius doesn\u2019t use such scenes. The most we see of the war is the news footage on the living room TV or the vivid descriptions one character creates when talking about it. The war, essentially, takes a backseat. Even in this case, the war doesn\u2019t end up being a backdrop, cherry-picked to serve the narrative. The conflict, despite having no visual presence, has an active role for these characters, directly and indirectly affecting their lives, like in their respective professions. Still, though, the film is very much not a reflection of war itself. It\u2019s slow and methodical, composed of static shots. At its core, it is instead a reflection of the humans living through it.<\/p>\n