Film Review: 'Together' Is An Excellent Codependency Body Horror Film
Director Michael Shanks seemingly came out of nowhere. Maybe he was residing for years in the cave where “Together” finds our protagonists, Tim and Millie (real life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie), before finally emerging from the darkness. “Together” is Shanks’ directorial debut, a near-flawless body-horror tale of codependence with scenes that are sure to get under your skin (okay, I promise I won’t be that “on-the-nose” when I write this).
Tim and Millie have been together for years. Millie gets a teaching job at an elementary school in the countryside. Tim is a struggling musician in his late 30s who doesn’t even own a car. It is clear by all accounts that he needs her more than she needs him. This becomes even more blatantly obvious when Millie proposes to Tim in front of all of their friends at a going-away party. The pregnant pause from Tim says more than any words can, even as he sputters a “yes, yes, of course” after the moment has passed.
The countryside home is quaint, yielding a new change in their lives. They decide to explore the area and go on a hike. After getting lost during a storm, they fall into a cave, needing to make shelter for the night as the rain pummels down. Fear-inducing experiences begin to happen in the cave. Upon waking up, they find their legs are stuck together. It must be some kind of mildew, Tim remarks. They eventually get their legs unstuck, and they venture out of the cave and back to their home.
I have omitted key details from the plot synopsis because it’s hard to explain any aspect of this film without giving too much away. All I can say is that after that cave experience, Tim and Millie become closer than they’ve ever become, in the most unexpected and supernatural of ways. The film has several effectively scary moments with a story at its center about the nature of relationships and the back and forth that is required of couples.
In addition to Shanks’ writing and directing, every moment of ‘Together’ works well because of Franco and Brie. They are fantastic together, and their chemistry is palpably etched into every frame of this film, whether they’re showcasing their love for each other in the most inappropriate of places, scared for their lives, or arguing about who needs the other more in their relationship.
The film fits into the horror category, but there is something far deeper here throughout the hour and forty-minute runtime. It is a love story that pushes two people to their absolute limits, begging the question: who needs whom in the relationship? It touches on all of the basic elements of a story like this: commitment issues, resentment, the ebb and flow of couples well past their prime, yet still fighting to find that one spark, that one thing that will keep the flames lit.
“Together” is a remarkable debut film for Shanks, and an impressive vehicle for Franco and Brie. It works as well as a dramatic piece as it does a horror film. Some scenes in this film are not for the squeamish. One scene in particular has that same shock factor that will cause you to put your hands over your eyes as some scenes in last year’s “The Substance”, another Neon-distributed body-horror flick. While “Together” is a far different film than something like “The Substance”,. both have one notable thing in common: while they both present themselves as “horror films”, there is far more to them than meets the eye, and their best qualities are more than skin deep.
Together is playing in theaters now.
Release Date: July 30th, 2025
Rated: R (for violent/disturbing content, sexual content, graphic nudity, language, and brief drug content)
Running Time: 1 hour, 42 minutes
Directed by: Michael Shanks
Screenplay by: Michael Shanks
Produced by: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Mike Cowap, Andrew Mittman, Erik Feig, Max Silva, Julia Hammer, Timothy Headington
Starring: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman
