In multicellular systems, adhesion complexes, such as those composed of E-cadherin and associated catenins, mechanically couple neighboring cells by directly linking their actin-based cytoskeletal assemblies. However, the mechanics of how forces are transmitted across these adhesions remains largely unstudied. Here, we introduce a biophysical model that explicitly couples adhesion complex dynamics to intracellular mechanics across cell boundaries. An E-cadherin dimer plus associated catenins connecting two cells is represented as a spring whose ends experience drag with respect to the moving actin cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is modeled as a contractile gel driven by myosin activity in its bulk and forces from adhesion on its boundaries. Our model captures this bidirectional coupling via a coarse-grained continuum framework and explains fundamental behaviors at the cell and tissue scales. This includes the emergence of collective cell polarization without appeal to chemical signaling networks. It also includes the appearance of supracellular cables through the joint action of actin contractility and transmembrane mechanical coupling. This model provides the basis to study other adhesion–cytoskeletal feedback systems and advance our understanding of multicellular tissue dynamics.