Sweet, cheesy, and utterly plotless, Katie Holmes debuts Alone Together as a major directorial effort. Flaws aside, I had fun with the rom-com vibes especially in the film’s first half. However, I can fully understand the hugely negative critical reception I seem to be seeing everywhere. Though it debuted at 2022’s Tribeca Film Festival, very little about Alone Together feels genuine or like something we have not seen previously, and better. The only thing stopping the film from sinking entirely is the charming chemistry between Jim Sturgess and Katie Holmes.
Remember back to the very beginning of 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic? Alone Together sure hopes you do, capturing a moment in time that I am frankly tired of being forced to relive through various facets of media. Escapism barely feels possible anymore with the sheer breadth of Covid-inspired projects flooding the market. Alone Together imagines that a double-booked Airbnb could be a potential meet-cute for two people forced to coexist in the throes of the never-ending lockdown.
June (Holmes) works in journalism, but is still an Indiana girl at heart. She is just trying to spend some time away from the city in the midst of the covid scare. The Airbnb she stumbles into is already occupied by none other than Charlie (Sturgess), a restorer of vintage motorcycles. Initially, the two butt heads and debate over who should depart for a hotel (it would have to be Charlie because he actually has a car, whilst June was forced to Lyft her way over, right?), settling on June simply spending the night. Before one can blink, June and Charlie are bonding over Big Macs and karaoke, quietly falling for one another despite June’s current hubby abandoning her to stay in the city and Charlie’s fresh breakup scars.
A variety of things bothered me, one of which is that for a movie about the pandemic, there is virtually no mask-wearing through most of the runtime. This seems entirely unrealistic as to what I actually experienced, and the utter mania that ensued over things like toiletries and food. Revisiting Cuomo’s Covid speeches, reminiscing about to-go food practically going extinct, or dwelling within the never-ending news cycle are enough to make one’s blood boil. Alone Together attempts to morph the entire affair into a relatively light-hearted event, which is strange considering deaths are imminent within the framework of the movie as well. From purely a narrative standpoint, Holmes and Sturgess deserve better. Entertaining enough despite the flaws, Alone Together is a passable rom-com without much to say.
Alone Together takes us back to the early Covid days of 2020 when it debuts in limited release theaters on Friday, July 22nd.
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