The Squid And The Whale is about a family breaking up in Brooklyn, New York in 1986 - and right when the film begins we see what side everyone is going to be on: The opening scene is of the family playing tennis with the dad and the older son on one side of the net and the mother on the other side with the younger boy.  These are the two teams and this divide is just made more evident when the parents split up and the kids are forced to split their time between them.