With multiple stabs at the horror genre this year with some of the most remarkable films of the past years such as “Weapons,” “Sinners,” and “Bring Her Back,” a directorial debut by Australian filmmaker Michael Shanks was able to cement itself in the minds of some of the biggest fanatics of the genre, and stands as a creative to keep an eye on following the new script of his being acquired by distributor A24. 

“Together,” starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, is a body-horror film showcasing the history of Tim and Millie, a couple who recently moved out to a much more isolated town as she achieves a job at an elementary school in the area. Tim is highlighted as a less than perfect boyfriend, embarrassing Millie at their goodbye party before the move-out and not achieving success in his musical career. Millie also does not stand very strongly in being a good girlfriend, not believing Tim in most aspects and doing a “low blow” when bringing traumatic past experiences of his in their arguments. 

When the couple move into their new house, in between of a long state argument in their relationship, they decide to go hiking into an unknown trail, concluding in them falling into a cave where they spend the night and where most importantly, Tim decides to drink water from it. This is the detonator of every event happening afterwards, as Tim starts becoming physically attached to Millie to a sickly level, appearing at more than random times as he becomes completely dependent on her.  

Millie later also falls in the entrance of this dependency, with most of their acts being unvoluntary as their bodies direct themselves to being together, blending the lines of realities as a scene of them cutting their skin off plays during the middle of the picture. Body-horror becomes the main type of horror here, with the melting of skin, lashes and bones appearing as the curse on them becomes stronger. This is where both Franco and Brie, partners in real life, execute a perfect performance of both love, sacrifice and miserableness. 

Like many horror films, the themes of this film are connected to social commentary, focusing on the current state of relationships and the selfless aspect of it. The film weirdly turns the final into a disgusting mess of a fusion, with many body-horror aspects in it, but the audiences feel almost happy seeing the results of this once divisive relationship. Seeing our protagonists decide by themselves and accept each other to its deepest core can leave many viewers confused, as it can be seen as both an act of utter love or a complete loss of independence and own self. 

Throughout the film, even with a duration of one hour and 42 minutes, which is not very typical in the current movie market, we are able to get a good hold of the story and do the perfect amount of backstory. Audiences are quick to ask for more background information to feel truly frightened, but I believe that the strongest and scariest films are the ones where we don’t know what to expect or how they started.  

“Together” is now available on streaming and I highly recommend it to anyone reading.