Both an intense love story and a horror-tinged cautionary tale about relationships that are based on co-dependency, Together, the feature debut from Australian writer/director Michael Shanks, concerns a young couple, Tim and Millie (real-life spouses Dave Franco and Alison Brie) who arrive at a crossroads in their 10-year relationship. Still unmarried, she teaches grade school, he’s a musician without a lot going on, and their friends are wondering why they aren’t yet wedded. They clearly care for each other, but tensions still flare up from time to time, and when Millie gets a job that takes them out of the big city and into the woods for a new rural teaching gig, they look at this as an opportunity to start anew.
Instead, they tend to get on each other's nerves even more. Neither one seems to really want to be so far removed from the city’s creature comforts, and before long buttons are being pushed and an uncomfortable fog rolls in over this very nice couple. Before we even dig into the horror of it all, it’s impossible not to acknowledge that Franco and Brie being an actual married couple fuels every exchange these two terrific actors have. Whether they’re being intimate or verbally jabbing each other, it all feels not just real, but also the product of something that only time and experience can make the physical and emotional halves of this relationship feel authentic. And it’s that lived-in, all-in quality that absolutely elevates every aspect of Together.
One day, the two decide to hike in the woods around their home and they stumble upon (more like fall into) an underground cave. The cave isn’t that deep or inescapable, but it’s raining, so they decide to stay the night and keep dry. There’s a collection of strange but hardly ancient artifacts in said cave, but they don’t think much of them. Tim foolishly drinks the water collecting in the cave, and when the couple wake up against each other the next morning, their legs are stuck together by an unknown substance. They manage to pull apart, but it’s the first sign that some unseen force wants their bodies to merge.
The film gives us clues to what is happening, including an opening prologue involving two dogs, but perhaps the freakiest sign that something ain’t right comes when we meet Millie’s new co-worker, Jamie (Australian powerhouse Damon Herriman, recently seen in Better Man and The Bike Riders, and soon to show up in Mortal Combat II), an overly friendly type who lives nearby and instantly makes us realize something odd is coming.
Tim and Millie’s bond only grows stronger in the coming days. Their minds seem as fused as their bodies, as is illustrated in a brutal sequence involving him in the shower and her driving to work. It’s as if this unknown entity can sense that they are drifting apart and decides it’s better if they are closer than they’ve ever been. Needless to say, they even get fused together during a vigorous sexual encounter. It’s meant to be a transformation and not a punishment, but the body horror is real and very different than anything you’ve likely seen before. As the couple continues to get lost in dealing with this phenomenon, they lose touch with the outside world, culminating in a surprise visit at the end of the movie that will likely knock the wind out of you a little bit.
Not to make the film sound overly serious or elevated...Together actually has moments of great humor and sweetness between this couple. But they are pushed to their limits as a couple, and as much as we want them to stay together, we’re not quite sure we want to see where this “curse” will take them. The script is sharp, and there’s no denying the chemistry between these leads.
The biggest question I’ve been getting about Together is whether it makes for a good date movie. I think it does because it’s about surviving and working together to solve big life issues—like your eyelashes sticking together or using a motorized saw to separate your arms from each other. Like most relationship dramas, we’re just watching a couple work through their problems. But what if the director of that drama was clearly inspired by early David Cronenberg movies? Then you have something truly special, which this is.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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