Together Together, but not like that

Together Together is about a couple who spend a few intense months together, but they aren’t together together. It’s a story of the slow growth of respect and friendship between two people who are connected out of necessity, not love. This film is available on Hulu.

Together Together tells the story of Matt (Ed Helms), a 45 year old single guy who wants to be a dad. He hires Anna (Patti Harrison) as a surrogate. She agrees to carry the baby for money for college. It’s Matt’s sperm, an egg from an anonymous donor, and Anna’s uterus all tangled together for 9 months.

Essentially a two-hander between Helms and Harrison, they make it as real and awkward and nerve-wracking as a relationship like that would be. Matt is super involved. He wants to be part of everything. He wants to be around Anna all the time. He allows Anna no boundaries.

They visit the gynecologist Dr. Andrews (Rosalind Chao) and her funny tech Jean (Sufe Bradshaw). They go to counseling with therapist Madeline (Tig Notaro). They attend birthing classes. They watch ALL of Friends together. Their conversations and interactions with all these folks were very frank and honest.

It’s never a romance. That probably throws off some people who can’t imagine a story about a man and a woman that doesn’t turn into a love story. Okay, this is a story about love, but it’s not romantic love. It’s friendship and understanding, a connection based on respect. When the nine months are over, Anna will be off to college and Matt will be an over involved dad with no boundaries.

The film was written and directed by Nikole Beckwith, who wanted to tell a story about a man and a woman that wasn’t a romance. Helms and Harrison were well cast as the two people in this ungainly and awkward relationship. Kudos to Nikole Beckwith for finding a new topic and a new kind of story to tell and doing it well.

Check out the trailer.

If you give this one a watch, please share what you thought about it in the comments below. 🙂