Together (15)

Director: Michael Shanks
Screenplay: Michael Shanks

Starring: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman
Running time: 102 minutes

Cinema

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Review: Dave Stephens

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Married couples are fairly routine in horror movies, and their emotional connection (good or bad) is usually the catalyst for onscreen shenanigans. Think Ed and Lorraine Warren in The Conjuring films, or Jack and Wendy Torrance in The Shining, for polar opposite examples. Real-life couples, however, are a bit rarer in the genre. But when it does happen, it usually gives an extra frisson to the proceedings. Think of Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis in The Fly or Emily Blunt and John Krasinski in A Quiet Place. See? Extra zing and believability. Which is probably why people got so interested in this project when it was first announced, with Alison Brie and Dave Franco as the two leads. The couple have been in a relationship IRL since 2011 (which must be some kind of record for Hollywood). Not only that, but they’ve worked together before (The Disaster Artist in 2017 and several others), and they’ve done horror together before (The Rental in 2020). But this was something different and went down a storm at the 2025 Sundance Festival. It’s been written and directed by Aussie filmmaker Michael Shanks in his directorial debut. Swiftly side-stepping the controversy about alleged plagiarism (we’re going nowhere near that), the movie has been out for a couple of weeks in the States and has just debuted on UK screens. So, is it (as the ads would have it) the ultimate “date” horror movie or not?

 

The story starts with a search party in the woods looking for some missing hikers. A couple of rescue dogs discover a pool in a sunken cave, lap up some water, and… things get weird. Flash forward a short amount of time, and we are introduced to a modern urbanite and loved-up couple called Tim (Franco) and Millie (Brie). As well as their shitty friends (seriously, just the worst). Tim is a failed musician, still with a faint hope of making it big. However, Millie’s career as a teacher is going well enough for her to be invited to a backwoods school, and they use it as an excuse to move to the country. But after an ill-advised hike on a mountain trail, they encounter a suspiciously familiar cave (and pool), and things get weird for them as well. Although they were previously doubting their existence as a couple, they are now supernaturally (and literally) drawn to each other, with their skin and limbs threatening to permanently fuse. It’s a life-threatening problem that the average relationship counsellor will have no chance of solving. So, is it Splits Ville or properly together forever?

 

There are some issues with Together, and it doesn’t really live up to the enviable hype that has gradually built up around itself. But there are no problems with the casting choices. Both Brie and Franco are excellent as the troubled couple who can’t stay apart. Their real-life chemistry is a boon to the plot with truly awkward moments (like the tumbleweed proposal attempt), juxtaposing nicely with the moments of passion and extreme horror. The fact that they’re (still) a married couple must have helped with some of the more “intimate” scenes, and it doesn’t hurt the promotional campaigns either, no doubt. Having said that, they do have great “scream” faces and sell some of the more visceral scenes, which call for distress and pain to be visually shown close-up. At the end of the day, this is pretty much a rom-com or drama dressed up with some grungy body horror and icky bits. The couple do sell this without being (for the most part) mawkish or annoyingly meet-cute about situations. Franco overcomes his character’s slightly milquetoast behaviour and lack of dynamism, whereas the potentially irritating sweetness of Brie’s teacher soon gives way to F-bombing and a practical approach to their situation. Millie trilling “Whisky for the pain” (glimpsed in the trailer) is still a high point.

 

The film (at least from a genre fan’s perspective) is at its best when it evokes a Lovecraftian sense of creepiness and American folk horror. Without spoiling things, the whole mythos that is built around the unnatural “attraction” is pleasingly ambiguous, padded out with nice details such as cultish rites, spiral-adorned bells, veiny-looking caves, and mysterious disappearances. This nicely opposes the wholesome and ordinary nature of the lead partnership, which comes complete with hidden jealousies and denied resentment, threatening to spoil things. Thankfully, the body horror works well in the early stages, being more centred on physical effects and prosthetics rather than unrealistic CGI. This makes some sequences get under your own skin as much as it does with Tim and Millie. There’s Tim’s midnight snacking on Millie’s hair, the horribly uncomfortable coupling in the school toilet, and several other shouldn’t-be-spoilt moments. These call back to imagery from the best body horrors such as The Thing, Society, and (more recently) The Substance. However, it does unfortunately descend to rubbery CGI at vital moments towards the end, and some of the impact and visceral nature is lost.

 

Speaking of losing visceral nature, despite its reputation, the movie doesn’t quite live up to its gung-ho street rep. For all the admirable build-up to the “electric saw” sequence, the scene at once cuts to the disappointing aftermath rather than having the courage of its convictions when the flesh-fusion is shown. The (obviously The Thing-inspired) prologue with the dogs is cut short before you see anything, which is made worse by the fact that it is teased by a child’s drawing later on. Shock value is mostly limited to screaming faces, an (admittedly squirm-inducing) close-up of private parts, and a couple of very brief glimpses of mutated torsos. This is somewhat alleviated by the creepy J-Horror contortions and bone-cracking movements that our heroes have to endure, but only to a certain degree. Some of it doesn’t make sense or hang together very well. Why was the cave empty when first discovered by Tim and Millie? Whilst it’s understandable that bodies can mimic the movements of their partners, how the hell does it make them levitate or magnetically attract?

 

A lot of the logistics or any realism is sacrificed just to tell the story. But…and this is the main problem with the film (at least IMHO), it’s all so very predictable. If you can guess what Millie’s favourite Spice Girls song is, then you could probably predict where each plot strand is going and what the final shot is going to be. There is one minor twist involving a supporting character that is marginally clever, but even that is heavily signposted. If you’ve seen any rom-com or love story, that’s pretty much the framework you’re getting here. Rather than explore the interesting cult and the (literal) source of the trouble from a genre perspective, what’s dwelt upon more than anything else is whether co-dependency is a good thing for Tim and Millie or not and whether they’re “right” for each other. You’re constantly slugged over the head with relationship metaphors to this end. Far from being a good “date” movie, it sometimes feels like it’s a good case for being single and keeping your individuality. (Cautionary note: This is the opinion of a middle-aged and embittered writer. Other viewpoints are available for use.)

 

As noted, there is gallows humour and sickly body-horror to enliven the proceedings. A personal favourite is Millie shrieking, “Fucking child locks!” whilst trying to open a pill container at a pivotal moment. This is shortly followed by two grown adults snorting powdered Valium off a kitchen floor whilst kicking each other. You have to be there to get that. But much of the promise of the trailers has been nullified by the old “and it was all a dream” cliché, and some out-of-context footage. Most disappointingly, The Turtles' “Happy Together” isn’t used at any point on the soundtrack either. Shocking!

 

It's not a bad film, to be sure. There’s some creepy aesthetics, Brie and Franco hit the right spots, and it’s imaginatively filmed. It just feels like there are no surprises or real shocks for a film like this. Comparing it with two recent horror hits, Bring Her Back wasn’t afraid to get dark and nasty with the source material, and Weapons really went for it with innovation and a wacky central premise. Here, the events just seem to play out on “rails” and follow the standard movie tropes for a romantic tale rather than a hit-you-over-the-head horror. It just feels like it should have been bigger, darker, wackier, or more inventive in terms of where it ended up. Maybe that’s harsh. Even so, it’s still worth checking out. And it could even serve as a public information film for preventing erotic shenanigans in a school toilet. Ouch.