Breaking up isn't hard to do when you can hire someone to do it for you. At least that's the initial idea in the Netflix comedy The Breaker Upperers from New Zealand-based comics Jackie Van Beek and Madeleine Sami, who wrote, directed, and star in the irreverent comedy.
The Breaker Upperers stars Van Beek as Jen and Sami as Mel, friends who launched a breaking-up service after they realized 15 years ago that they were being two-timed by the same guy.
The women happily don costumes and fake pregnancy bumps to help couples burn down relationships and irrevocably break up, that is, until Mel begins to feel guilty about the damage they leave in their wake.
The movie offers up as much heart as it does gross-out hilarity and saucy sex jokes (those are mostly courtesy of Mel, who's bisexual and speaks openly about her sexual experiences). But in the end, it's really a romantic comedy about the platonic love between its female leads. Complete, with fantasy sequences, a music video, and a guffaw-worthy strip-tease, The Breaker Upperers is refreshingly unhinged and very queer.
Friends in real life, Van Beek and Sami (who is queer and in a relationship with New Zealand-based singer Ladyhawke) have a deep affinity for one another that they wrote into their characters in the film.
Watch a montage of scenes from the Breaker Upperers below. The movie is currently streaming on Netflix.
