Together (dir. Michael Shanks)

By: Dave Hughes

For many, nothing is scarier than falling in love. Horror films have frequently taken the intricacies of human connection and made some of its scariest content surrounding the themes of love and loss. Whether it be the impact of divorce in Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession (1981) or the consequences of codependence in Ari Aster’s Midsommar (2019), filmmakers have explored the emotional terrain of human relationships for years. Together continues that tradition by revealing to audiences that loss of identity in relationships is painful for both partners. Director and Writer Michael Shanks (Rebooted) takes a microscope to loss of identity,  blending  grotesque body horror and emotional dread as the central couple is not sure where one partner ends and the other begins. 

Starring real-life couple Alison Brie(Community, Promising Young Woman) and Dave Franco(The Disaster Artist, Neighbors), Together is the story of a pair who leaves their group of friends in the city to retreat to a quiet country home, where they are left with little more than each other. With no distractions, they are forced to confront the  issues looming over their relationship.  As the couple takes a walk one afternoon, they have an encounter with a spiritual cavern that forces them to get closer than they’ve ever been. 

Brie and Franco are the emotional core of Together, offering believability and genuine care to their roles. Brie plays Millie, a schoolteacher who loves her boyfriend and wants everything to be just right. Franco plays Tim, a man in his 30s still chasing his dreams of being a musician. It’s a compelling dynamic and it’s easy to wonder if Brie and Franco pulled from their own relationship to shape the couple in the film. Their chemistry roots Shanks’ film with a necessary sense of believability, which makes the scares that unfold later more terrifying.

Together is not loaded with jump scares, though there are a few. Instead, this film is designed to force the audience to wallow in a bag of discomfort. As the story progresses, it begins to lean more into the distressing and unsettling images while using body horror as a metaphor for the couple unraveling.  Director Michael Shanks injects a feeling of unease through an unforgettable and stomach churning hallways scene, easily one of the film’s most impactful moments.

Between the surreal horror and the grotesque transformations, Together is ultimately about the messy nature of companionship. Even in the healthiest of relationships, there’s an element of sacrifice and loss of personal identity as people merge their lives. The film explores the way couples can become consumed by each other, not out of malice, but out of a merging of lives as well as values and beliefs. 

Target Score 7.5/10: Together is a well crafted horror story that uses the image of two bodies becoming one as a metaphor for the evolution of companionship. Most surprising is how funny director Michael Shanks allows his film to become while outlining the quirks and tension inevitable in any long term relationship. Together is  a powerful reminder that love and long term relationships may be the scariest experience of them all.