Together (2025) Neon/Horror RT: 102 minutes Rated R (violent/disturbing content, sexual content, graphic nudity, language, brief drug content) Director: Michael Shanks Screenplay: Michael Shanks Music: Cornel Wilczek Cinematography: Germain McMicking Release date: July 30, 2025 (US) Cast: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman, Mia Morrissey.
Rating: ***
There’s some debate as to whether Together is elevated horror or not. As I’m sure you already know, EH is what happens when some young filmmaker makes a horror movie whose description typically includes the phrase, “but it’s really about”. That could apply to Together. Ostensibly, it’s about a young couple who experience strange side effects after drinking water from a questionable source. BUT it’s really about the nature of relationships and co-dependency. It doesn’t paint a pretty picture. It explores the fears inherent in a long-term relationship- namely, love dying and the union ending- in a way that’s both sharply perceptive and gruesome.
I suppose Together is EH the same way many of David Cronenberg’s films are- e.g. The Brood, Videodrome and Dead Ringers. In fact, one can see the Canadian filmmaker’s influences all over Together, a body horror movie with its fair share of ick. You can also hear echoes of John Carpenter (The Thing) throughout with its palpable feeling of dread. It would appear that writer-director Michael Shanks did his homework for his feature film debut.
Millie (Brie, Promising Young Woman) and Tim (Franco, Now You See Me) are at that point in their long-term relationship where they’ve lost their identities. It’s always “us” and “we”. They’re always together. HOWEVER, it’s not an equal partnership. Millie is clearly in command of this union. She’s the one who proposes to Tim (in front of their friends) who’s too stunned to answer. His non-action, typical of Tim, only adds to the tension already simmering between them.
The proposal occurs at a going-away party as Millie and Tim prepare to give up city life and move to the sticks to start a new life. He’s not 100% on board with the idea, but goes along with it just like he does everything else. Tim is the very definition of passive. Millie, an elementary school teacher, has a job waiting for her. Tim, an aspiring (and unemployed) musician, has no prospects. At 35, he still believes he can make it big someday even though it’s obvious to everybody else that the hoped-for big break is just a pipe dream. The move places him even farther away from all potential gigs and achieving said pipe dream.
One day, the couple decides to go for a hike in the woods near their home. Predictably, they run into a storm and get lost. They fall into a hidden inground cave while in a panic. It’s a creepy place, but they have no choice but to shelter in place until the morning. Tim gets thirsty and drinks from a pool of water in the cave. That’s when things get weird. Tim, already slightly unstable, starts having episodes whenever he’s not in close proximity to Millie. He becomes irresistibly attracted to her. At one point, they have sex in a bathroom stall at her school and it becomes a sticky situation but not in the way you’re probably thinking.
I wouldn’t say Together is perfect, but it works as both gross body horror and a metaphor. The latter is made even more effective by the strong chemistry between the two leads, married in real life as well as reel life. Their dialogue has an authentic, lived-in vibe to it. They sound like a real couple going through the usual couple BS- i.e. he’s too needy, she needs her space.
The actors’ individual performances are right on-point as well. Franco turns in his most nuanced performance to date as Tim, a man-child dependent on his partner for pretty much everything. He doesn’t even have a driver’s license so Millie has to drive him everywhere like she’s the mother of a young teen. Franco effortlessly blends this dependency with an increasingly deteriorating mental state, possibly something he inherited from an unstable parent. Brie delivers an equally convincing performance as the one in charge of the relationship. Millie isn’t a control freak, but she definitely has the upper hand. Her fear as she starts to lose control feels real.
The effects in Together, mostly practical with only a bit of CGI, are nicely icky. The transformation of the central relationship becomes physical in ways you could never imagine. I’m not going to describe any of it; it would spoil the shock of witnessing it for yourself. I’ll only say it’s definitely not for the squeamish. I’ll also say that Together is absolutely NOT a date movie no matter how long you’ve been dating.
The problem with elevated horror movies is their inflated sense of self-importance. They tend to be rather pretentious (e.g. Midsommar). Thankfully, I didn’t see so much of that in Together. Yes, it’s fully aware that it’s making a statement, but Shanks doesn’t rub it in the viewers’ faces. Sadly, he missteps in another area. Given the film’s far out premise, he should have gone all-out bonkers. Unfortunately, he’s too timid to go there completely. It feels like he holds back just as things get crazy. I wish he showed some of the same fearlessness as Cronenberg. He went there and it resulted in some unforgettable movies.
I’d like to close on a humorous note if I may. It’s in reference to a particular soundtrack choice. It’s the first time in my life that I heard a Spice Girls song and didn’t want to scream in agony. It’s put to good use, but still.
