Love. Love will keep us together…
Or so the song says. In reality, relationships take a lot of f*cking work, and if you’re not willing to put in said work, then it’s likely that you’re gonna be a little lonely soon. But love is a great start. Why am I talking about this? Does this seem out of pocket? Quit yer bellyaching. I’m just setting the scene for this review of Together, the new movie from writer and director Michael Shanks (not the same one that played Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1. I looked it up).
Together is a body horror extravaganza that deals with toxic relationships and codependency in a way I’ve not really seen before. Starring IRL aesthetically pleasing celebrity couple, Dave Franco and Alison Brie, this should be a slam dunk in regards to chemistry, intrigue, and comedy. They both have historically specialised in the funny stuff, after all.
Did it live up to expectations? Let’s find out.
Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) are years into their relationship, and they’re about to embark on their next adventure: moving to the backwoods of nowhere for Millie’s career. If you were thinking about how selfish that sounds, maybe take a look at yourself. They’d been hanging about, waiting for Tim’s music career to take off for years with no success. It’s Millie’s turn now.
It doesn’t take long before problems begin to arise, though. So, to get things back on track, Millie and Tim spend some quality time together in the great outdoors. One rainstorm and a fall into an abandoned chapel swallowed by the earth later, and menial relationship issues become the least of their problems. They’re now magnetically attracted to each other, and not even skin is a barrier to entry. Whatever happened down there is going to change their lives forever.
Ewww.
We’ve all had them; those friends who become a couple and then transform into this amorphous blob of a human being. They are not the people you knew before, but the combination, a diluted and slovenly beast you can barely recognise. This tale of codependence perfectly encapsulates this type of relationship. Neither Millie nor Tim are the complete person they want to be with or without each other, but they certainly NEED one another.
The concept behind the narrative is pretty solid. There are outside forces acting on Tim and Millie, for sure, but they are also their own worst enemies. The chapel and the backstory behind it were interesting, and I’d have liked to see more of that stuff explored before the conclusion of the film. However, that place was just the catalyst for the couple to explore their issues.
Okay, let’s tackle the body horror. It’s extremely gross in places, and that’s what you want. I’ve been wanting to watch a decent entry in this genre for a while now, after watching The Substance last year. Although Together doesn't hit those heights in many ways, there are some good moments. Millie waking up to find Tim choking on her hair was a definite high point.
There is little to no tension or real scares to be had in Together. Save for a dream sequence and a recollection from Tim, there was no pillow necessary to hide behind while watching this film. It’s disappointing to watch a horror film without any notable scares. There are no deaths (at least not shown on camera), so the danger is contained, posing almost no threat to anybody except our main characters. All in all, it’s just a bit too chill for a horror movie.
Together is pretty predictable. It introduces so many Chekhov devices throughout the movie that you know are going to be important at some point. The trailer spoiled one of these payoffs, which is actually one of the better moments in the film, with the electric saw being used to separate the couple’s arms. Much of the plot goes down exactly as you’d expect.
And then there’s the ending. I’m not going to spoil it here, but there could have been something good there if there had been maybe a little more room to sit with the aftereffects. Oh yeah, and if Alison Brie and Dave Franco HADN’T SPOILED THE FINAL FRAME OF THE FILM. What was the f*cking point of describing the finale to prospective viewers in the press interviews? It was SO dumb!
Together is a film brimming with wasted potential. The metaphor for toxic relationships and codependence was something I was really looking forward to exploring, but this movie didn’t hit in the way it needed to. There was little to no tension, and it was devoid of any really scary moments. The most interesting “horror” moment in this film was in a flashback dream sequence. That was genuinely chilling, but it wasn’t what was focused on in the narrative. It should have been value-added.
I have to admit, being told the ending by the actors in interviews before watching the film kinda sucked. Maybe take my review with that bias in mind, because I was awaiting the moment that Alison Brie was talking about in her interview with baited breath, only for it to be shown in the final frame of the film. So, yeah, it was predictable, and I don’t think knowing the ending would change that fact. But it certainly didn’t help anything.
Together can be summarized by the word “fine.” It’s just ok - entertaining enough, but nothing I would be recommending for people to head out to the theater for.
