Tinsel & Tine’s look at FreeStyle Media Presents:

UNTOGETHER

By Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

I was offered a screener to check out writer/director Emma Forrest’s feature debut UNTOGETHER starring real-life sisters – Jemima Kirke , (HBO’s GIRLS & painter), Lola Kirke (Noah Baumbach’s MISTRESS AMERICA & singer), Jamie Dornan (FIFTY
SHADES trilogy) Ben Mendelsohn (Netflix series BLOODLINES and upcoming CAPTAIN MARVEL) and the one and only Billy Crystal.

It’s a moment in time type movie that centers around the romances of two sisters, Andrea (Jemima) & Tara (Lola). Andrea made a name for herself as a very young, successful author of a best selling novel, but that was a couple years ago; now she’s been in a more or less self-destructive phase, struggling to write. She wears vintage early 60’s “Mad Men” type outfits and sports pretty pink hair.

It seems the other sister, Tara, inherited a pretty nice LA house from their deceased father, and Andrea has recently come to live there with her sister. Tara also lives with Martin (Mendelsohn) her older, has been, Australian rocker boyfriend. You get the impression they’ve been together for about a year or so and for him the relationship is still in full bloom, despite not being able to concentrate on a blow job, in an opening scene, while watching their cat service himself. Tara, on the other hand, is restless in their relationship and is annoyed by the smallest things Martin says or does.

The film begins with Coitus interruptus for Andrea too, as her partner is singing during their encounter to prevent himself from coming too quickly, but this is a turn off for her and she shuts it down. Not dramatically, as you get the impression this would have been the 2nd or 3rd time for the couple this evening. She stays to converse with this one night stand, who is Nick, (Dornan) a medical doctor who recently had a memoir published about his time serving in the Middle East and the woman he loved and lost there. The book is very successful, making Nick the new “It” author of the moment; a fact that both attracts and repels him to Andrea.

And so goes it, it’s a personal film with minimal plot, centered around characters making often unwise decisions, but from the heart. For the most part, the sisters are supportive of one another and act as sounding boards. I’m so thankful it’s not about women fighting or being pitted against each other. Most likely because “Untogether” is written and directed by a female.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT: I like to think UNTOGETHER is a subversive Valentine’s date movie, written by someone whose seen THE BREAKFAST CLUB as many times as they’ve seen BETTY BLUE. I’m Anglo-American and I wanted the film to have a very pop American sensibility combined with a Euro-dreamy visual vibe. Although it is character driven, dialogue heavy and intimate, it was important to me that it not look like an “indie”. The feelings are gritty, complicated and confronting but I always intended the visuals to counteract that with their lushness.

I knew I wanted sisters playing sisters and I knew that, in my star, Jemima Kirke, I had a face an audience would be fascinated by, which is key when the actress is in almost every shot. I also knew Jamie Dornan just well enough to long to finally exploit on screen his infectious sense of humor. I wanted to create a multi-generational piece that, in weaving between love stories, would offer, once the characters got beyond their self doubt and awkwardness, a movie about finally making a connection (whether or not you get to keep it). One of couples does. One of them doesn’t. Like life. Making art in the era of Trump, I needed to shoot something that was ultimately optimistic, and I think we succeeded.

Despite the two couples being the crux of the film, I wouldn’t call this a romantic movie. Particularly, as I strongly disagreed with one sister’s romantic decision at the end, which you can clearly see will cause more bad feelings in a short time. What truly does hold your attention throughout is Jemima Kirke, she’s just an unusual and very watchable creature, you can’t help but care about what she thinks and does in the smallest of scenes. She’s like a cute kitten that suddenly lunges out from under a piece of furniture unexpectedly and ferociously claws your barefoot.

UNTOGETHER Theatrical/VOD Release: February 8,

Distributed by: Freestyle Digital Media

Executive Produced by:Scott Adler, Alex Cutler, Vijay Amritraj and Prakash Amritraj

Executive Producers: Dana Guerin, Michael Guerin, and Greg Scott

Rating: R | Run Time:98 Minutes
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Website: www.UntogetherFilm.com
Facebook:@Untogetherfilm | Twitter:@Untogetherfilm | Instagram:@Untogetherfilm