Early in Michael Shanks’ directorial debut Together, Millie (Alison Brie) warns her boyfriend Tim (Dave Franco) that if they don’t “split up” now, it’s only going to be harder later. She didn’t know how right she was about that. After nearly 10 years together, Millie and Tim are no closer to marriage and kids than they were when they met. When Millie proposes to Tim in front of all their friends, he stands frozen, unable to speak. It’s not the best foundation to settle down together, but they move away from the city anyway, moving into a house far away from all their friends. Millie has accepted a teaching job at a small school and is excited to be more involved in her students’ lives. Tim doesn’t have a real job––he plays music and still has dreams of becoming a rock star. He also doesn’t have a driver’s license; Millie will have to drive him to the train station whenever he wants to go to the city for a gig. Millie wishes Tim had more direction, but she wants to support him in this new phase of their lives together. Complicating matters is Jamie (Damon Herriman) who lives next door and also works at the school with Millie. He’s charming, adult, and more secure with himself than Tim, who sees him as a romantic rival.
But when the couple gets lost hiking and falls into a strange hole bearing a religious temple, things get even weirder. It starts out small: their thighs get stuck together and they have to break apart to climb out. But once they’re back home, the energy between them has changed irrevocably. When Millie gets in her car and drives away from the house, Tim’s body begins to move involuntarily while he’s in the shower, as if it’s trying to follow her outside. When he goes to the doctor he’s prescribed muscle-relaxers with the hope that his body is just tense and coping with the stress of the move and recent family trauma. But that night, something else weird happens––Millie wakes up to Tim swallowing her hair. Because mental illness runs in his family, Millie has a hard time believing that Tim’s odd behavior isn’t deliberate. But he’s convinced something strange is happening to both of them and that they must work together to stop it.
It’s hard to talk about Together without clearly stating what’s going on between these two. Their bodies have become a metaphor for their codependent relationship, and every time they’re physically close to each other it becomes even harder to separate. Together really shines in its VFX and sound effects, showing every thrillingly gross detail of this couple’s predicament. We hear bones cracking and limbs jerking, and we get to see plenty blood and gore. In one of the film’s best scenes, the couple has passionate sex and then struggles to separate afterward. Their bodies feel safe intertwined and don’t want to be apart again. Before this move, they hadn’t had sex in a while and Millie is eager to be intimate again, but Tim’s clinginess adds apprehension to their time together. Does he really want her this badly or does he just feel desperate because he can feel that she may want to end things soon?
Together is the kind of horror film that enjoys gleefully punishing its characters. While Millie and Tim are affectionate with each other, the camera watches them with a discerning eye, knowing what they need to do before they even realize it. Franco and Brie are great together, playing one of those classic couples that woke up one day in their 30s, not realizing how much time has passed. The two being married in real life only adds to the familiarity of their dynamic and a playful air to their conflict. Millie has grown up in all the ways she was supposed to, but still holds onto Tim even though he hasn’t grown up with her. Tim seems to want to be alone but is too afraid to make the decision––the kind of guy who never wants to own his choices or take charge of his unhappiness. In the real world they would probably go on like this for several more years, but Together gives them a cosmic intervention. Relationship horror is frankly an underutilized genre, ripe with the possibility for both scares and emotional resonance.
When Together kicks into full body-horror gear, Shanks lets loose, delivering a gleefully nasty third act that takes impressive visual and narrative risks. By the time the film speeds across the finish line, the ending we get is unexpected, bearing a melancholy that Shanks perhaps doesn’t fully acknowledge. In toto Together is a wild ride that explores the way we imprison ourselves in relationships from fear of being alone and finding out who we are as individuals. It’s a tragic love story and cautionary tale all rolled into one provocative package that’s sure to spark discussion.
Together premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and will be released on August 1 from NEON.