When it comes to the body horror subgenre in recent years, the best approach often seems to be presenting the message as directly as possible. Just as The Substance made no attempt to hide its metaphor for aging, Together is an obvious take on co-dependence and the fear of losing one’s individuality in a long-term relationship—taken to the most literal extreme. The debut feature from writer-director Michael Shanks isn’t a game-changer, but Together is a solid blend of romantic drama and body horror.
Together follows long-time couple Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) as they leave the city for a small rural town in the woods, where Millie has accepted a new teaching job. Although they assure their friends that everything’s great, it’s clear there’s a growing disconnect. Maybe it’s the lack of physical intimacy, Tim’s frustration with his stalled music career, or his delayed, non-committal response to Millie’s surprise proposal during their going-away party. Either way, the couple hope that a change of scenery will rekindle their spark.
During a hike near town, the pair fall into a mysterious cave and end up spending the night there, drinking from what appears to be a clean pool of water. But when they emerge the next day, things get weird—and then downright gross—as they begin to experience a magnetic pull toward one another. In one especially creative sequence, Tim’s body (in a trance-like state) is dragged across the shower walls in sync with Millie’s car as she drives into town, his movements mirroring the car’s every turn.
“…Together is a solid blend of romantic drama and body horror.”
I appreciated that Together never went out of its way to villainize either of the two main characters. Instead, their constant reliance on each other to cover perceived shortcomings—Millie’s inability to cook and Tim’s lack of a driver’s licence, among others—has placed them at different life stages rather than fostering shared growth. Credit goes to Shanks’ script (inspired by his own relationship), as well as the performances from real-life married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco, whose chemistry is just as strong on screen as it is off.
When the body horror kicks in, it doesn’t go nearly as gonzo as The Substance and its splatter-filled finale, but the excellent practical effects and prosthetics still deliver some gloriously repulsive visuals. It starts with the painful peeling of skin after the couple cuddles in the cave, then escalates to chewing on each other’s hair, grotesque contortions and chunks of flesh. One particularly memorable effect involves the couple attempting to hook up halfway through the film—you can probably guess where that’s headed—and it got a very visceral reaction from me and several others in the audience.
These moments lean Together into goofier, Evil Dead II-style slapstick, right down to a scene where a limb gets sawed off. Both Brie and Franco’s comedic timing makes it all work, but I found myself wishing that tonal shift had arrived a lot sooner.
“Depending on who you ask, Together might be the best—or worst—date movie ever.”
There are elements that didn’t quite work for me—most of them in the final third. Early in the film, it’s established that Tim is haunted by the trauma of finding his parents dead. While that understandably feeds into his anxiety about his own relationship, the film leans on it too often as a setup for cheap jump scares, especially before the main plot kicks in.
As for the cave and why it causes this Lovecraftian merging of bodies, the film offers clues throughout. But without spoiling anything, the final reveal is too neat and too bland to really drive the message home. Not even an obvious Spice Girls needle-drop can save it from feeling a little underwhelming.
Depending on who you ask, Together might be the best—or worst—date movie ever. Despite my issues, I still found it pretty enjoyable overall. It’s not an absolute must-see, but it’s one worth seeing with a crowd, laughing and wincing in equal measure. It’s a film worth sticking with.
