The minor key romance “Alone Together” is a modest affair, which credibly depicts the sorts of conversations about relationships that many individuals had been confronted with throughout the early days of the pandemic. Its simplicity and lack of cinematic fancy strikes a tone of unusual reduction.
The film, written and directed by Katie Holmes, who additionally stars in it, follows two strangers who fall in love after they each are booked in the identical Airbnb in March 2020.
June (Holmes) intends to climate the pandemic’s early days upstate together with her boyfriend, John (Derek Luke). But her plans are thwarted when John elects to remain residence in New York City. Her hopes for a quiet retreat meet one other roadblock upon arrival: The rental home seems to be occupied by one other traveler, Charlie (Jim Sturgess).
Both characters are initially aggravated to come across one another. But discovering themselves collectively throughout a interval of worldwide isolation gives a purpose to attach. Attraction develops rapidly, and the characters fall in love as they focus on how the pandemic has modified their life plans.
The film’s strongest attraction is in the resonance between what the characters expertise and what the world appears like now. But Holmes additionally finds grace notes as a director. She levels painterly angles for upstate interiors and retains the temper mellow, permitting her characters to converse with out pushing for laughs or sentimental theatrics. Her movie is a quiet achievement: a film that isn’t working from actuality.
Alone Together
Rated R for language and transient nudity. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters.
