Studies have shown that the longer a couple stay together, the less likely they are to break-up. And if you think about it, it makes sense; think about all those couples you know that have been around the block together, and look as solid as can be. Until they’re not.

This Spanish film focuses on one such couple, who decide to part ways after many years together, in a fairly unusual fashion.

Living in Madrid are couple Ale (Itsaso Arana) and Alex (Vito Sanz). They have been together for 14 years, but have come to the mutual decision that now is the time to split up.

They decide to adopt a theory that Ale’s dad has, that you shouldn’t celebrate a union of a couple but rather the separation. So they decide to have a party, on the last day of summer, where they invite family and friends, to celebrate their relationship. But the news of this party is received with mixed feelings from those invited, as the party grows nearer.

There are many films that feature the end of relationships, but Spanish director Jonás Trueba’s film has another layer to it, as this couple are both involved in the film industry, with Ale a director and Alex an actor. This storyline is a major part in the film, with Ale in the process of editing her latest film, as Trueba playfully blurs the line between the film being made and reality throughout.

We never actually get to the bottom as to why the couple are breaking up, with Ale only offering the same retort – it was bound to happen – which is a bit on the ambiguous side for a film.

And much of the film offers a repetitive need to show the reaction of their friends to the news – which as we find out later is deliberate by the director – and doesn’t look at the emotional make-up of the couple, which is a little disappointing.

The blur between the film and reality is also possibly taken too far, casting a shadow as it does over the film’s finale, which although may not go down well with regular filmgoers, may well get a nod of approval from die-hard cineastes with what is a cerebral take on the rom-com.