Alone Together, 2022.
Written and Directed by Katie Holmes.
Starring Katie Holmes, Jim Sturgess, Derek Luke, Melissa Leo, Zosia Mamet, Luke Kirby, and Becky Ann Baker.
SYNOPSIS:
Two strangers embroiled in bad relationships wind up in the same upstate New York Airbnb.
As two lockdown Airbnb strangers (June and Charlie, played by Katie Holmes and Jim Sturgess with the chemistry of a middle school science lab assignment gone wrong) get to know each other, they begin discussing their favorite books. June mentions Transit, stating that she is not interested in plot but character studies and human connection. Performing triple duty as also the writer and director of Alone Together, Katie Holmes appears to be striving to create something similar here, except the script and story are about as interesting as watching grass grow, with a Lifetime movie story trajectory.
Alone Together is not just dull, though, as it also takes a questionable approach to pandemic-era character behavior (the story begins in March of 2020, right as America started to enter a state of caution and lockdown). Throughout the movie, there are television voice clips of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo briefing the country on the severity of COVID-19 and how individuals could protect themselves.
However, that’s not stopping June from going to this remote retreat that her boyfriend (Derek Luke) booked and then getting upset with him because he’s more focused on staying with his parents for a few days (who are rightfully terrified about what’s happening). From there, it’s reasonable to assume that once June finds out the home has somehow been double-booked and begins interacting with Charlie, she will grow into a less selfish and wiser person.
Instead, the characters mostly ignore the pandemic around them (although they cut together some homemade masks once it’s advised people should start wearing them, only for no one to put them on much). It begs the question of why this is a pandemic-era movie in the first place, considering all it does is make the bonding lovebirds at the center somewhat unlikable.
Suppose you’re wondering why June is flirting and, eventually, having sex with someone else. In that case, it’s because she feels that her boyfriend has grown distant while suspecting that he may be cheating on her since there is a recent photograph on social media of him with an attractive work colleague. That’s hardly enough evidence to start sleeping with someone else, and the film doesn’t benefit from having selfish characters since both parties here are one-dimensional and flat with nothing thoughtful to say. Katie Holmes seems to think we should cheer this romance on, doubling down in the third act with forced and contrived writing inviting us to do so while also using COVID death insensitively.
The previous 80 minutes practically contain no conflict, with Charlie (I will say that Jim Sturgess is doing his damnedest to give this character an extra shade or two, to no avail) coming across as the perfect guy from the get-go, wronged by a serial-cheating ex-girlfriend and somewhat disconnected from his mother (Melissa Leo, briefly appearing a few times via computer screens). The characters mirror each other in some ways, but nearly every characteristic or bid of exposition is tossed aside or meaningless.
There’s nothing wrong with lockdown romance (whether it be characters falling in love or marriages dissolving, and we have seen some reasonably good ones so far). Still, Alone Together is as dry as the Sahara desert and doesn’t find an intelligent or engaging way to integrate the horror of March 2020 into the lives of these two beyond primarily ignoring it. Not to mention, the dialogue between these two is horrendous and shallow. Perhaps Katie Holmes should stick to something more plot-centric in the future.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
