'Dakota Johnson doesn't care if you like her polarising new movie (but I'm here to say you'll love it).'

Moments after I started watching the new 'unromantic comedy' Splitsville, three burning thoughts instantly entered my mind.

That was definitely one of the most unique movies I've seen in a long time.

I'm surprised yet impressed that the best fight scene of the year happened within a comedy.

And, I can't wait to tell Dakota Johnson when I interview her how much I genuinely loved this movie.

Splitsville is the tale of two seemingly happily married couples whose marriages open, dissolve, and then threaten to come back together again across the course of the film.

The movie opens with Ashley (Adria Arjona) informing her husband, Carey (Kyle Marvin), after some oral sex in their car that has disastrous consequences for some poor passing motorists, that she's been unfaithful to him and wants to end their marriage. He reacts rationally by jumping out of their car and running away before finally turning up at the palatial waterside mansion owned by his best friend Paul (Michael Angelo Covino), who's been happily married for many years to Julie (Dakota Johnson).

Michael Angelo Covino, Adria Arjona, Dakota Johnson and Kyle Marvin at the premiere of Splitsville. Image: Getty.

While consoling Carey over his marriage breakdown, Paul and Julie reveal that the secret to their marriage and happily co-parenting their son is an open relationship, where they are allowed to hook up with other people while preserving their idyllic home life.

This all seems very aspirational and evolved until Paul dashes back to Manhattan for work the next day, and Carey and Julie end up sharing a very intimate moment. A moment that implodes their entire friendship circle when Paul finds out.

Splitsville balances some truly thoughtful and heart-wrenching scenes that delve into the complexities of friendships and relationships, paired with some raucous comedy sequences that had everyone in the cinema next to me screaming with laughter. All leading to a truly entertaining viewing experience.

I told Dakota Johnson this the moment she appeared on my computer screen for our interview, not only proclaiming to her that Splitsville was one of my favourite films of the year, but doubling down on the fact that it's my job to watch every single movie that is released. So this statement is not one I make lightly.

Johnson smiled serenely at me as I made this statement, but then sat in polite yet expectant silence, calmly waiting for me to ask my first question, with all thoughts of opening small-talk becoming nothing but a distant memory.

This would go on to be a character trait of the 35-year-old actress and producer that I noticed throughout our interview. I quickly learned that Johnson is not a person who jumps in to fill a silence, instead considering every word and thought carefully before she opens her mouth.

As a person who rambles to fill every possible lull in a conversation and who fears silence like most people fear darkness, it's a personality trait that I both admire and envy.

Johnson at the Cannes Film Festival, alongside her Splitsville co-stars. Image: Getty.

Johnson began her acting career in 1999 with a small role in Crazy in Alabama, with her real breakout role coming via the 2010 film The Social Network.

Johnson is a performer who grew up in the heart of Hollywood as the daughter of actress Melanie Griffith and actor Don Johnson. With her famous lineage, including her grandmother, Hollywood icon Tippi Hedren, and Antonio Banderas, who was her stepfather growing up.

During our interview, it became apparent that Johnson is a person who is used to being listened to when she walks into a room. A trait that has no doubt led to the success of her production company, TeaTime Pictures, which she founded with Ro Donnelly, and was the company that produced Splistville.

When it came to the core four cast of the film, three of the lead actors were balancing a dual role. Johnson as one of the film's producers and Covino and Marvin as the script's co-writers, with Covino also serving as director.

The making of Splistville could have been a melting pot of clashes between different creative minds all vying to lead the project, but according to Johnson, it was quite the opposite.

"It was chaotic for sure," she said when looking back at the long days on set. "But it also made the whole experience more collaborative as well, because everybody was working towards the same goal, and we all were wearing many hats.

"I wanted to play Julie because she's a woman who seems like she's okay and has to put on a really brave face for everybody and take care of everyone around her," she said, after I asked her what it was about this script and this character, out of the hundreds of options that pass over her desk each day, she couldn't pass up.

"But really, inside Julie is a very sad and very unhappy woman, and that just felt very honest to me. This character felt like a lot of women that I've witnessed in my own life."

On paper, a movie like Splitsville could have been hard to envisage working on screen, as it is peppered with comedic scenes that, unless performed with the utmost accuracy, had the potential to fall completely flat.

After all, it takes a unique combination of writing and performance to make not one, but two goldfish death scenes feel like cinematic masterpieces.

According to Johnson, it wasn't until the film was receiving a standing ovation at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival that she truly realised just how much it would resonate with people.

"I didn't know that the movie was going to work until we went to Cannes and I saw it with an audience," she confirmed. "I was unsure how people would react to it until then.

"My favourite day on set was when Nicholas Braun was there, and he was doing his bit," she said, speaking of the Succession star who plays a Mentalist named Matt in a small but memorable role. Braun also played opposite Johnson in the 2026 comedy How To Be Single. "Because he's one of my favourite people in the world, and he was just so funny."

Dakota Johnson talks to Mamamia's Laura Brodnik about her new film, Splitsville. Article continues below.

In a cinematic world currently filled with endless sequels, prequels, and reboots, Splistville stands alone as a true unicorn of a film — a unique story with no Intellectual Property shoulders to stand on.

Which is exactly why Johnson wanted to make it.

"I think people crave original stories, whether they're conscious of it or not," she said. "I think people are inundated with the same things over and over again, and I think you don't realise that you wanted something new and fresh and different until you see it.

"So it's important to keep putting new stories in front of people."

As our interview drew to a close, I told Johnson I was curious about how she acts during the week that one of her films is released.

Is she the type of person who switches off her phone and keeps her head away from the online noise? Or does she read the mountain of reviews, opinions, and conversations that spring up around the projects that has put years of her life into?

"When it comes to looking at the reviews and the conversation, it depends on if I produce the movie or not," she said after a long pause, carefully considering my question. "Because I'm so curious, and this is also such a polarising subject that I'm curious what people will say about it when they see it.

"I just like the conversations that it starts," she continued. "Also, I don't really care if people like it or don't like it. I'm just curious what the conversations will be."

Splitsville is in cinemas now.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.

Feature Image: Getty.