Jim Sturgess and Katie Holmes star in Alone Together, a romantic comedy that Holmes also wrote, directed, and produced. Alone Together follows Holmes as June, a woman who, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, decides to rent out an Airbnb to get away from the city. Of course, when she gets to the Airbnb, she finds that it has been double booked by its owner, and Charlie (Sturgess) is also staying there.
The pair reluctantly agree to shack up the first night and soon, a relationship between the two begins to develop as the world falls apart around them.
Screen Rant sat down with Sturgess and Holmes to discuss the movie, including how Holmes felt tackling all the different aspects of the film, why Sturgess thinks movies about the pandemic are important, and whether Holmes would do a Dawson's Creek reboot.
Screen Rant: Katie, you wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Alone Together. What was it like to see this project through from start to finish, especially considering you began writing this at the beginning of the pandemic?
Katie Holmes: It's a relief when you finish. There are so many different parts of the process and, honestly, Sandra Adair is our editor and I haven't really talked so much about that, because it's so much about the making of it, but the editing of it is its own thing. Sandra and I did it over zoom. And, what I enjoy about directing and directing this film was I think we did a fair amount of improv. And so we had to figure out how to make that work in the editing room, which was really fun.
It was exciting to write it. Every part of it was exciting. Meeting Jim and then him saying yes, and rehearsing and then shooting it and getting scenes and then worrying about scenes and then rewriting the scene, it's very fun.
Movies about the pandemic can be a bit divisive. Why is it important to you to tell these stories, especially happier stories, set during that time?
Jim Sturgess: That's why I was drawn to it. It was a time capsule. It was something for myself as well. What a beautiful thing to have in your life that sort of captured this incredible, bizarre, and surreal moment for all of us, but then told very gently and very positively with a lot of hope, a lot of heart, and a lot of nuance.
The pandemic and the lockdown is all very present in the film, but it's sort of behind the doors of this Airbnb that they're staying in, but it's there, and it's lurking. And it's very real and is affecting people in very devastating ways. But you get trapped inside of this little bubble of love that's sort of happening amongst all of this stuff. I just thought it was really gorgeous for that.
And it was really interesting watching it with a group of people and watching it in a cinema, and everybody remembering little things that sort of happened during the pandemic and during lockdown and things that we all sort of collectively experienced. Like this giant sort of inside joke, all the little funny things with hand sanitizers. And I'm excited for the film as time passes, too. You really have it to sort of look back on as [we] distance ourselves more and more from [that] experience.
Katie, in this day and age, there are always grumblings about reboots and revivals. Would you ever return or revisit Joey for Dawson's Creek?
Holmes: No [laughs].
Fair, very fair.
Holmes: I'm so grateful for that experience. We've definitely talked about it over the years, but I feel like that show captured that time period and that time in all of our lives. I think it's great that you are nostalgic for it. So am I. But it's like, do we want to see them not at that age? I don't know. I don't think [so]. We all decided we don't, actually.
Alone Together Synopsis
Two strangers wind up double-booked in the same upstate New York rental during the start of COVID-19. Exasperating the situation, the lockdown forces them both to stay and confront the unexpected feelings that develop between them.
Check out our previous interview with Alone Together's Jim Sturgess for Home Before Dark as well.
Alone Together released in theaters Friday, July 22 and is available on demand and digital Friday, July 29