#SUNDANCE: “TOGETHER TOGETHER”

Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

Writer-Director Nikole Beckwith’s second Feature is a beautiful portrait of platonic love during one of life’s most intimate experiences: pregnancy.

Middle-aged App Designer Matt (Ed Helms) wants nothing more than to be a father. There’s only one catch, he’s single. After interviewing gestational surrogates, he chooses 26-year-old Anna (Patti Harrison). Together Together follows them through each trimester, observing how these strangers grow into friends.

Helms is a joy to watch in a departure role in this Indie gem. He’s typically cast in goofball comedies as a stressed-out character. Here we see the range of his comedic and dramatic talents. He gives a heartwarming performance has an eager single father-to-be. Helms is great at showing the simmering anxiety below Matt’s calm exterior. Harrison is wonderful at expressing the emotional barriers Anna has created to protect herself. It’s lovely to watch her slowly take them down and admit to the connection she feels with Matt. They work brilliantly together at showing the platonic love written into Beckwith’s script. 

Together Together is a touching film about surrogacy and a rare cinematic examination of platonic relationships.

Together Together screens at Sundance:

Live Premiere: January 31 at 3 PM (EST)

On-Demand (available for 24 hours): February 2 at 10 AM (EST)