Together

I'll be honest when I say that the trailers never properly sold me on this movie, it made it seem like a completely different movie than what we got.

The concept is really unique. While there's been some chatter online about possible plagiarism, that's not my place to weigh in on. What I can say is that this film stands on its own with a bold and bizarre approach. The effects are striking, and some moments hit a level of fear and discomfort that really stays with you. It does an excellent job portraying anxiety and the disorienting terror of dreams that blur into reality.

Dave Franco delivers what might be his best performance to date, giving the character a desperate vulnerability that anchors the whole thing. Alison Brie complements him perfectly, and their chemistry helps ground the madness with emotional weight and some dark humour.

It's disturbing, oddly beautiful and full of surprises. If you're into surreal horror with emotional undercurrents and a touch of body horror, it's absolutely worth checking out.

Body horror is a genre that can be difficult to nail. At its best, it is anxiety-inducing, disturbing, and off-putting, often beyond the point of enjoyment. It is horror, not because of the scary monsters or hidden nightmares, but because of the natural human unease towards bodies being bent and broken in ways they shouldn't. As a horror genre fan, I have become desensitized to most of the tactics used to scare in movies, but body horror, done right, never fails.

Together is almost that movie. It builds anxiety both through body horror and simple awkwardness, but just as it rises to the point of being unbearable, it breaks the tension, either with humor or romance. It does this well, but I was left feeling too comfortable, too comfortable for a movie purporting to be a genre based on the opposite. If they had leaned into the body horror more, unwilling to break, this could've been exceptional, but as it stands, I was left wanting.

For someone who is easily scared or is new to body horror, this film could be great. The humor and romance make it more approachable, but it also detracts from the horror. Certainly not a waste of time, but it sucks to see a film come so close only to miss the mark.

Together follows Tim and Millie, who find themselves at a crossroads when they move to the countryside, abandoning all that is familiar in their lives except each other. With tensions already flaring, a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh.

The film sets everything up well. The characters, the relationship, the setting. I liked all that. The story itself was good, but the overall experience felt a bit flat and underwhelming. Things should have happen faster. When the horror, tension, or weirdness finally shows up, it's good. But it doesn't stay there. It never really sits in the moment. More time should have been spent in those moments once they happened, not necessarily more things to happen. It felt like the film was holding back when it should've leaned in. More should've happened emotionally and visually. It felt like it could've gone deeper or darker, and I was ready for it. That's one of my big issues with the film. The body horror and supernatural elements are there, but they could've gone harder with it.

The trailer gave away a lot, so if you've seen it, you've probably already caught most of the big horror moments. That takes away some of the surprise, which is a shame, because the film does have its own story to tell. It's straightforward and easy to follow.

What worked really well was the emotional side of it. The relationship felt real. You could see yourself in these two people, and what they're going through feels honest. Dave Franco and Alison Brie are great together. You can tell they're a real couple. There's a natural chemistry between them that makes everything feel more believable, especially as things start to fall apart. There are also a few funny little moments between them that break up the tension in a nice way, without messing with the overall vibe.

Overall, Together is a solid but not groundbreaking horror/drama. It explores some interesting ideas. I just wish it had pushed things further emotionally and visually. It had all the right pieces. It just didn't go far enough with them.

"Humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves." Plato, The Symposium

Although the current horror film Together doesn't pretend to parse Plato's discourse on love, it relies heavily on the idea that true love is the comingling of minds and bodies that were once separated by Zeus out of envy. Tim (David Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) spend time in a country house seeking to regain the passion they once had.

After a stroll that ends up in a cave (how very Platonic!), they devolve into maddened humans, literally getting under each other's skin. The visuals, even without excessive CGI, are body horror at its best, and allegorically land us in discussion about what love means and how it affects the struggling relationship the drama began with.

Thematically Together wishes to show how much the stressed couple loves each other, even willing to sacrifice their very flesh to reconcile their affections. No couple in the audience can ignore the commentary on the emotional demands of love, the millennial fear of commitment, and the strains that modern lonely life make on romance.

After all, Millie has sacrificed a higher teaching order to take a rural job while he is still at 35 years old trying to play in an indie-rock band. His intermittent impotency, while understandable given his lack of professional success, still seems like a major impediment to taking their love to the next level.

While treating the aud to some icky body horror, writer-director Michael Shanks comments on the challenges of modern living that needs the therapy of communal sharing, of overcoming horrors together to emerge from that cave together toward the future.

While some of the cliched tropes in the horror genre are sticked within it's narrative and characters, the original horror concept, great atmosphere, visual make-up designs and the strong performances from Dave Franco and Alison Brie offers a fun horror, comedy and body horror tale.

For a debut project, director Michael Shanks really captures the horrific and bonkers nature of the body horror genre. Raving with great atmosphere, practical effects (which some were grossly cringeworthy which succeeds on the good aspects about body horror), and the direction. The writing explores some interesting themes about relationships, dependency and how bonds can be a fear within the self of someone. While I do admit some aspects, especially the way how characters are approached and some of the elements feel cheesy, the narrative works for the most.

Franco and Brie has some great chemistry between one another, especially when the horror body elements are shown every time they are on screen. Although some of the dialogue moments were a bit strange, as a whole, the horror and body elements of this movie was successful.

Overall, a good Midnight movie.