Together Together (2021) — Movie Review and Analysis
Together Together — Introduction
2021 launched the single father and surrogate topics with exciting movies, such as Fatherhood and Mimi. “Together together” is a particular film, definitely not for everyone, but with something powerful to tell and appreciate.
The film reminds us of the style of Woody Allen’s movies, although the result doesn’t deliver the same amount of genius that Woody brings on the scene. The pace is slow, like the one of pregnancy. And for once, we don’t have the stress of daily routine, and we can focus on life, love and listen to our heart and thoughts.
Released in 2021, “Together together” is not the best movie of the year, but it deserves your time. Let us explain why.
Together Together — The Story
A single man, Matt, needs to bring order to his life and to do so, he decides to start a family alone. Therefore he looks for a donor and a surrogate to host his baby till the birth. After a couple of interviews, Matt finds the perfect match for the role: Anna.
She is half of his age, with a challenging past and an uncertain future. However, they have a contract that binds them together for the time of the pregnancy. Anna needs money, while Matt wants a baby. They found each other, but they are unaware of how their lives are going to change.
- Will Anna deliver the baby?
- What they and we will learn from this story?
- What will happen to them?
Together Together — Review, Analysis and Insights
(IT CONTAINS SPOILERS)
Nikole Beckwith wrote and directed the movie. She is the author of “Stockholm, Pennsylvania” and she wrote for some TV Series such as “Tell me your secrets” and ” Impulse”.
She received two nominations in 2021 at the “Cleveland International Film Festival” and the “Sundance Film Festival” for this film.
1. The Movie’s Structure and Pregnancy’s Phases
A typical pregnancy usually lasts for forty weeks. Therefore, there are three stages, called trimesters. The movie follows the three main phases of pregnancy, constantly growing something inside our characters until they have to deliver their choices and the baby.
The First Trimester — When everything started
The first trimester in pregnancy goes from the first week of conception to week number twelve. In our movie, this is the time where Matt and Ann start to know each other and begin their partnership. For us, it’s the time to discover about their lonely lives.
Matt’s family doesn’t embrace his joy when he tells them that he finally will have a baby because they are busy with their lives. On the other hand, Anna is alone and needs this pregnancy because she wants to restart her life and go back to school. Money is still the focus of our actions.
The interview scene is weird, and we immediately feel the weirdness of our characters and, during their celebration dinner, the atmosphere is even worse. It would probably fail if this were a date, but there is something important here: a binding contract.
Instead of giving up, they must spend a bit of time together, and Matt needs to be sure that Anna is well doing during the pregnancy.
Therefore, Anna needs to consume time with Matt, and slowly, she starts to appreciate the attention Matt dedicate to her bringing the pregnancy tea and the shoes. But also the hidden jealousy of Matt when he found out that Anna has her friend with benefit.
In this phase, they are starting their relationship and, as in pregnancy, they could lose everything if not very careful, lucky and dedicated.
Second Trimester — Changes in body and minds
The second trimester goes from week thirteen to week twenty-eight. Again, the woman’s body shows some changes, and inside of her, something is growing. Again, it’s the case of Anna. She begins to open herself to Matt. Anna tells us more of her story and of her desire to restart her life. We discover the issue with her family and her desire to find a new one.
Anna suggests the baby shower for the baby. It seems like she is trying to see how she can fit in Matt’s world, even if the experiment is a total disaster. Something is growing inside of Matt and Anna, and it’s not only the baby; we can see the changes between them. At the baby shower, Anna feels alone. Even Matt doesn’t dedicate time or attention to her. And this part brings us to the title of the movie.
Together means anyway together together.
When Jules, Anna’s co-worker, advises her about her relationship with Matt, he seems to surprise her. But, of course, dating someone should be a long term goal for a couple or friends. Anna knows about that, but she didn’t consider the idea that all of this will be over one day as soon as she delivers the baby. Creating a bond, a connection, is something that goes over sex.
It’s love in all of its shapes. It’s challenging and takes time. When we reach this target, we want to protect it. Therefore Anna’s concerns are understandable. But, finally, Anna realises that something needs to change because all the attentions Matt reserves to her will end, as well as the bond they have created, together.
It’s sad and concerning, especially after the scenes at the baby’s clothes shop and when she helps Matt solving the “complex” choice of the colour of Lamp’s room. But Anna is just a surrogate, and love wasn’t part of that contract.
The baby shower event is proof for Anna that this relationship is wrong and needs changes, even if those are not easily lasting forever.
Third Trimester — When love follow rules
The rules our protagonists set have the purpose of keeping their relationship to a professional level. No love, no complications, and the goal is to deliver the baby. However, the reality is that they understand that there is definitely something more between them.
Their relationship is delicate, genuine, built during the time and probably with the essential ingredient: don’t quit too early, instead take the time to let it grow. If she doesn’t tell him about her admission to the school in the first instance, she does it later. Matt respects all of her choices, providing the time she needs to clean her mind.
The movie seems to tell us that love is the ability to wait, take the necessary time, and don’t judge anyone before you spend the time he or she deserves. They eat together candies after the couple therapy, and they hold each other hands with no sex later, of course.
2. Does love needs a contract?
After the first days together, Matt and Anna weren’t precisely the best couple ever. We had the feeling that the awkwardness between them was more substantial than their chemistry. Nevertheless, they must spend time together, to be in touch, because of the baby. The movie is telling us to don’t judge so quickly a potential partner.
Take the time and commit yourself to try to click and connect with the person next to you. Like if there is a contract that binds you to this rule. We could save how many marriages or love stories instead of rushing to quickly and potentially to wrong conclusions.
It’s a powerful message, especially if we consider our position at the beginning of the film when we notice how different they seem to us. It was hard to believe that something could click between them. However, they showed us that Anna and Matt could build something together together, dedicating the right time. Like a pregnancy requires to deliver a baby. Time brings changes, sometimes positive; we should try to wait for it.
3. Friends will be friends?
Something that brings them together is the famous TV Series “Friends”. The choice is not casual; they are building their relationship as friends. Anna doesn’t seem to like the show, but, again, time needs time. And, as in the series, their relationship evolves with the weeks spent together.
Anna, in the end, loved Friends (who doesn’t, right?). But, again, imagine if she quits the TV Series after the first episodes where she didn’t like it. She would have missed one of the most beautiful shows ever.
The message seems clear; we need to wait and not give up everything too quickly. Especially love, because what appears embarrassing, gross and without any hope of success can turn into something delicate and beautiful. Exactly, as the potential love story between Matt and Anna.
4. The unexpected end
After all the beautiful time they spent together and the steps to grow their relationship, the end seems inadequate. Anna delivers the baby, Matt takes Lamp with him, and he doesn’t immediately present Lamp to Anna. Let’s be honest, it wasn’t pleasant. Our feeling was that Matt would share the moment with Anna after everything they did together.
We don’t know what happened later. Probably Anna joined her school, and Matt lived his life with little Lamp. Probably they never talked to each other, or perhaps they stayed in touch. What matters is that a relationship is usually fragile, delicate and respect is essential.
The truth is that we fell in love with their Platonic story; we wanted to see more because, perhaps, this is what we wish for our lives too. But they had a contract, and Anna delivered the baby and got the money for her school.
Finally, Matt could live his dream. Everything worked as planned, but for us, it was not enough. Probably because we live to love and, with the lesson they taught us, we can do it even better. Now we know that we need to wait to get our results.
Together Together — Pros and Cons
Pros
The movie touches on different vital topics: fatherhood, surrogate, the relationship between older men and younger women, the challenging role to educate and teach a baby to grow up. But also the complicated relationship between parents and children. It highlights how society is still not ready for single parents.
It’s a delicate film, and we think that it deserves your attention. A special mention goes to Patti Harrison in the role of Anna and Ed Helms, interpreting Matt. In addition, we enjoyed the presence of Fred Melamed, who we met in our previous review, “Shiva Baby.”
Our favourite scene was when Anna and Matt went to buy a baby cot. All the actors did a fantastic job highlighting the challenges our society needs to overcome on single parents, single mums and single dads because it’s not the same thing, as Anna reminds us.
Cons
Let’s be honest; the movie is a bit slow. Sometimes too slow. It missed pace and soundtracks to embrace the moments. The camera’s movements are not excellent, often too statics. So although it reminds us of Woody Allen’s style, the result is not the same. Nevertheless, it’s not a bad movie at all. Although the style is not excellent, the idea behind the film guarantees a step more than sufficient.
Our final rating is 7/10
Where can you watch Together Together?
The movie is currently available on Hulu but check this link to see where you can watch it in your country.
