“Alone Together,” though set in 2020 amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, infuses the genre with the comfort of a matching cashmere bralette and cardigan sweater from the late 2010s, according to the writer, director, producer and trending star Katie Holmes. made famous then.
It's easy to get lost in the nostalgic bits of "Alone Together," like Anthropologie's quaint home furnishings and the chic closets of a "woman on the move in the Big Apple." It's even easier to get lost in the simple but charming jokes of Jim Sturgess and Holmes. But don't get too dreamy for the rom-coms of the past: The film, which premiered at Tribeca 2022, has a jarring reminder that the world is a harrowing place, full of death, betrayal, and traumatic loss. So goes our cute and quirky escape.
“Alone Together” centers on June (Holmes), a restaurant critic who is suddenly out of a job and on a break in her relationship with her boyfriend John (Derek Luke, with whom Holmes will work again in another movie, “Rare Objects”) beginning on March 15, 2020, when Manhattan is at a standstill and COVID-19 causes a citywide exodus. June travels upstate to Hudson, New York, to camp at an Airbnb John has booked; John, however, chooses to stay in New York City to care for his parents. Arriving at the rental, June is confronted by Charlie (Jim Sturgess), who has apparently booked the same French chateau-inspired cabin twice.
The opening of Holmes' sophomore directorial effort "Alone Together" makes for a stomach-grabbing drag: A version of "Blue Moon" plays as a Lifetime-type font rolls out the credits. (And yes, we do judge movies by source.) But seeing Holmes on screen again on her own terms has an empowering “go girl” feel to it. Sure, this could be our projection that "Alone Together" quietly debuts the same summer as "Top Gun: Maverick" and the "M:I 7" trailer, but Holmes seems happier writing, directing and producing, while also playing to lead. The whole "end of the world" backdrop is where "Alone Together" fails, and it's a real mistake.
June begins to cry when she sees a deer on the road to Hudson, and Charlie's career is based on "fixing things", such as June's hardened heart. Charlie is dedicated to getting Indiana-born career woman June to take a break and return to her authentic beer-drinking, Big Mac-eating self. Ugh, June's boyfriend John was pressuring her to go vegan. And who really sticks to their diet goals during a pandemic?
Classic rom-com little details, like a large, amply furnished house that only has one bathroom and one bedroom, create an already claustrophobic pandemic premise that feels even closer: June and Charlie aren't necessarily worried about catching COVID from each other. another, although Charlie at one point adorably sews homemade masks for both himself and June, but the worry is that their "we may die tomorrow anyway" attitude will lead to a deep-rooted romance with both taking advantage of the other being in trouble. vulnerable states.
June resorts first to banging a bottle of white wine against the wall to pop it, and then, inevitably, hitting Charlie himself. We could get used to this. But no, here's another voiceover from former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo talking about PPE when June is only really focused on BDE. And then comes all the death.
June's grandfather, suffering from Alzheimer's, dies in a nursing home, and she reveals to Charlie that her grandfather raised her after her parents died in a murder-suicide. Yes, this romantic comedy has a murder-suicide reference. The last time a domestic violence murder-suicide was coupled with such a connection was in season 1 of "The Island of Temptations." the woods and reflect on the romance of Instagrammable motels. Everything is magnified until it is not. Everything matters until nothing does.
Meanwhile, Charlie bonds with June over the loss of one of her parents. Her father passed away years ago and her mother (Melissa Leo) raised him and her brother alone. If there was a manic pixie dream man, Charlie would be it. He dresses impeccably in GQ-ready ensembles salvaged from Brooklyn thrift stores, pairing flannel sweaters with sherpa jackets emblazoned with obscure karate dojo logos. Zosia Mamet fills the role of the voice of reason's BFF according to her "Flight Attendant" and "Girls" arcs, and she seems to support June's McDonald's dates with Charlie.