It’s like looking into a lockdown mirror!
Sometimes a film comes along, for better or worse, too soon or too late, that captures current events and our collective state of mind. Together, the new film by Stephen Daldry (The Crown; Billy Elliot), may be THAT film for the COVID pandemic. While its 2020 relevance and verbose, stage play-esque script may turn off some viewers, the phenomenal performances by the lead duo and an honest, unflinching story about a romantic relationship in close quarters elevate this small film to more respectable heights.
Sharon Horgan (Game Night) is the character ‘She’ and James McAvoy (Split) is ‘He’, and they are white upper middle class suburban partners living through lockdown in the UK with their son, Arthur (Samuel Logan). There are multiple aspects of the story that can be subjectively criticized — mainly feeling sympathy for a couple who are financially comfortable, living in a multi-level home with a yard (though we never see beyond the kitchen and living room), and, for the most part, are in good health. The accents will be tough for American audiences to track fully, as well.
Together breaks the fourth wall constantly, which takes some getting used to. Both Horgan and McAvoy, but especially the latter, have extended sequences pouring out their honest feelings and emotional trepidations to the camera. Together can also feel incomplete. The jumps in time are depicted with streetside cutaways and text showing the increasing UK COVID infection and mortality rates. This choice by the filmmakers effectively provides a real world backdrop for the more anxiety-ridden moments the couple experience, but we also finish watching the film knowing that we are not yet out of the woods– UK numbers are worse now.
Together still remains a tightly scripted dramedy that’s worth viewing for the acting and the witty banter. The script is penned by Dennis Kelly (Utopia; The Third Day), so there’s an expected willingness to experiment within the film’s narrow confines. Plus, with Daldry at the helm, the film stays assuredly paced, shot, and dramatic. Watching McAvoy and Horgan feed off each other for 90 minutes straight is a delight. They carry the emotional spectrum and ups and downs of their relationship, from sexual flirtation to family tragedy, with amazing skill and comfort. In another reality, imagining Together as a two-actor stage play would be easy, but, given the state of live theater and audience attendance today, we can (and should) happily settle for this COVID time capsule in narrative film form.
Together opens today in Bay Area theaters.
