Together Review (Film, 2025)

content warning: blood, gore, violence against animals, violence against women, foul language, alcohol use, smoking, medical/hospital footage, nudity, sexual content

Millie and Tim are a long-term couple making the next big move in their lives. Millie has accepted a teaching job far away from the big city where Tim is still trying to make it as a rock musician. They hold a big going away party with all their friends, quietly revealing their insecurities about leaving the city to be together. Neither one could dream of the challenges the move will place on their relationship.

Together from first time feature film writer/director Michael Shanks stars real life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim. The result is an intense, intimate body horror film with a clever premise.

The opening sequence foreshadows what will come. A pair of dogs, lost in the woods, take shelter in an underground cavern. Tired and desperate, they drink water from a deep, murky puddle illuminated by the night sky. Once rescued, the dogs cannot stop staring at each other, moving closer and closer together every time the camera returns to them.

Millie and Tim, after moving in, are eager to hike the trails and explore the beauty of the countryside. They take an overgrown trail, marked with tarnished bells, getting lost and winding up in the same cave during a storm. Tim gives Millie the last of the water in his bottle and drinks from the puddle. When the rain stops and a new day dawns, Tim starts feeling more drawn than ever to Millie.

The body horror genre always has a deeper meaning. It's baked into its DNA. The thing we rely on inherently, our own bodies, begins to betray us in ways that force us to confront greater issues happening around us. Otherwise, we will succumb to the violent mysteries of the transformed body. From the unchecked ambition of Seth Brundle in The Fly to the quest for unending fame and youth of Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance, body horror is unimaginable gore and transformation as a metaphor for a psychological, emotional, or social issue the character is going through. Even films like Marina da Van's In My Skin, where the focus is disconnection from the human body, still use that hyper realistic gore to explore the internal struggles of the mind.

Millie and Tim are not on the same page in their relationship. Millie is ready for a quiet life with the man she loves. The keyword is quiet. Even as a teacher, she's drawn to the position in the remote countryside because her and her students can't get lost in the larger hustle and bustle of a giant school system. She knows she loves Tim, but she doesn't love Tim's loftier goals.

Tim is not ready to settle down. He's still chasing his rockstar dream, even after getting dropped from his label. He impulsively agrees to commute to the city as a substitute guitar player for his friends' band even though he'll have to take a long train ride to make it back. Tim is distracted in his relationship, always finding some excuse to not spend intimate time with Millie in the guise of focusing on his failing musical career. He knows he loves Millie, but he doesn't love how quickly she settles for a simpler life.

Tim's sudden shift to needing to be with Millie at all times puts a strain on their relationship. He claims he has no control over this, physically drawn to her regardless of distance or damage to his own body trying to reach her. Neither of them is used to such close proximity and so much time together, causing painful arguments and deep hidden truths to come out.

I'm doing my best not to reveal Together's hand here. The use of body horror is equally brutal and clever. Michael Shanks has designed horror gags I've never seen before, and I'm an avid fan of the body horror genre. I've provided minimal exposition from the first act of the film to establish the premise. There is so much more to explore in this emotional, intimate, and deeply disturbing body horror film.

Together is currently playing in theaters.