Situationship

PantaOz

Situationship: Combinatii, nu relatii marks an ambitious but uneven attempt to capture the chaotic energy of modern dating through the lens of Romanian millennial culture. Director Letiția Roșculeț, who also penned the screenplay, clearly understands the absurdity of contemporary romance—where a Instagram story like serves as a conversation starter and ghosting has become standard operating procedure. The premise itself is razor-sharp: three 28-year-old friends scrambling to find plus-ones for their ten-year high school reunion, only to cross paths with Max, a self-proclaimed "alpha male" dating coach played by real-life influencer Matei Dima. The film shines brightest when it leans into this collision between performative masculinity and exhausted feminism, generating genuine laughs from the cringe-worthy training montages and meme-ready dialogue that feel ripped from actual Romanian social media discourse. Where the film stumbles is in its tonal inconsistency and occasional heavy-handedness. For every scene that crackles with authentic observation—such as the friends debating whether situationships are gym memberships you forget to cancel—there's another that strains to make its thematic point about traditionalism versus modernity. The 95-minute runtime feels slightly bloated, with certain subplots involving online comment culture and influencer dynamics receiving more screen time than necessary. That said, the central quartet of performances largely holds the enterprise together. Matei Dima's physical transformation (having shed nearly 30 kilograms for the role) adds unexpected gravitas to what could have been a purely cartoonish villain, while Irina Noapteș, Mihaela Velicu, and Anastasia Florea bring distinct, lived-in energies to their respective archetypes without reducing them to simple stereotypes. Ultimately, Situationship works best as a cultural timestamp rather than a timeless romantic comedy. Its box office success in Romania—grossing over $600,000 and ranking among the country's top releases of 2025—suggests it struck a nerve with audiences who recognized their own dating app fatigue and social anxieties on screen. The film doesn't offer solutions to the situationship phenomenon it depicts, nor does it pretend to; instead, it serves up an acidic, self-aware comedy that invites viewers to laugh at the absurdity of wanting connection while fleeing from commitment. For audiences fluent in the vocabulary of ghosting, breadcrumbing, and situationships, Roșculeț's debut provides enough recognition and wit to justify its theatrical run, even if it occasionally confuses shouting its themes with exploring them.