As the Toronto International Film Festival kicks off, news of tantalizing projects being pitched to potential buyers begin to surface. One such project is the indie “Untogether,” set to star an impressive cast consisting of Jamie Dornan (“The Fall,” “Fifty Shades of Grey”), Ben Mendelsohn (“Bloodline,” “Slow West”), and real-life sisters Jemima (“Tiny Furniture,” “Girls”) and Lola Kirke (“Mistress America,” “Mozart in the Jungle”).
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“Untogether” follows an affair between Andrea (Jemima Kirke), a former teen prodigy turned heroin addict who is trying to be a writer now that she’s sober, and Nick (Dornan), a writer who has found success with his memoir of war time bravery, which sees him showered in wealth and women. Meanwhile, Andrea’s little sister Tara (Lola Kirke) finds her solid relationship with her older boyfriend Martin (Mendelsohn) shaken when she is drawn to a charismatic Rabbi with an even larger age gap.
The film will be the feature directorial debut of British best-selling author and screenwriter Emma Forrest (who penned the great script for a Richard Linklater project called “Liars (A-E)” that sadly fell apart, and whose memoir “Your Voice In My Head” is wonderful: she’s also married to Mendelsohn, by the by). Forrest describes “Untogether” as a film “…about the desire we all have to be seen, really seen. Sometimes we get lucky and find a partner who fulfills that criteria. Sometimes we get even luckier and meet someone who shows us that who we truly are…is not what we’d convinced ourselves.”
Overall the premise is intriguing, yet twisted, and I am particularly interested in seeing the Kirke sisters share the screen together for the first time in a feature film. At the very least, “Untogether” could be an interesting case of art imitating life. Production is slated to begin Oct. 17.
[THR]