JULY 21, 2025
GENRE: BODY HORROR
SOURCE: THEATRICAL (PREVIEW SCREENING)
If you saw the trailer for Together and thought it was giving too much away, I must admit I agreed... until I watched the movie. Yes, it spoils some of the best "body horror" gags, but not *all* (including the one that made me look away from the screen!), but there's more going on here than the highlight reel of shots that demonstrate the movie's concept. Which is, if you HAVEN'T seen the trailer, about a complacent couple (Alison Brie and Dave Franco, who are actually married in real life) who find themselves starting to actually meld together. And yes, the movie makes me, old school Born defender and Community fanatic, actually understand why the idea of being stuck to Ms. Brie all day long can actually be a bad thing. Nice work.
The trailer also doesn't give away the fact that (so, I guess, spoiler? But not really since we learn this instantly) this isn't just a metaphorical "What if?" scenario - there's actually an explanation for it, involving a strange pit that Brie and Franco find in the woods behind their new home. So despite it hitting the usual body horror tropes of a person being uncomfortable in their own skin and all that, it also pays tribute to things like Creepshow ("Jordy Verill" specifically), Slither, and Evil Dead, with someone ruining their life by investigating a weird thing they find in the woods. For me at least, this is preferable to things like Men, which has an equally fantastical concept but relies solely on the metaphorical pitch ("What if all men really were the same?") and asks you to just accept it at face value.
Not that it overly explains it either! The movie never gets bogged down in exposition; it just gives you a quick explanation for why it's happening for the people like me in the crowd that are like "Huh? What?" and then focuses on the good stuff. And it is really good! Brie and Franco are terrific and barely even have anyone else to play off of, which is always a gamble but it actually works well here. A friend of Brie's who talks over Facetime sometimes (probably why Men came to mind, now that I think of it) and another teacher at the school she works (played by Damon Herriman) are pretty much the only other characters in the movie we see more than once, allowing us to focus on the couple and, presumably for those who are in these type of codependent relationships or had one (raises hand), see yourself in one or both of the characters.
The script also wisely doesn't let either character come off as the "right" one. Franco is haunted by the death of his parents, but using it and his go-nowhere music career as an excuse not to be intimate with his girlfriend/fiance anymore, and she emasculates him in front of their friends and belittles his ambitions. There's a LOT of passive aggressiveness here on both sides, and it's almost kind of fun to be made to squirm whenever the movie hit a little too close to home (more than once I felt guilty hearing one of them make a putdown or snide comment that was similar to something I've said myself). There's a scene where they have Herriman over for dinner, and some of it borders on "Dinner Party" from The Office-levels of awkwardness as the two make their remarks at the others' expense as their guest gets increasingly uncomfortable.
And that's the other thing: it's a legitimately funny movie. Perhaps its improv thanks to starring a long-term married couple who have almost certainly gotten into arguments over the years, but that thing you do where instead of saying "Sorry" you just gently tease the other or make a little joke about yourself comes up throughout the movie (even when the body horror stuff really takes hold) and it always plays perfectly. I can't waste time explaining the context, but just know that "Remember when I found north?" had me cackling as much as anything in either actor's traditional comedy work, as well as a bit of advice involving crushing a pill.
Plus, as with this year's Companion (which you guys dropped the ball on! Boooo!!!), it got me thinking a lot about my old relationships (romantic and platonic) as well as a few friends who are "suffering by choice" in this kind of dynamic, which always makes a movie more appealing as I get older and a little more introspective. Don't get me wrong, I still love my meat n potatoes slashers, but they rarely give me anything to chew on. I rarely spend much time considering my own relationships when Jason spears a couple simultaneously. But I once had this actual discussion with a friend during what was an emotional "fight" of sorts:
Me: You'd be OK without me, I'd be a wreck.
Them: No, you'll be fine, I'd be the one who couldn't function without you.
Yeah, sounds sweet and all that, but looking back? It's dysfunctional af, and that sort of thing drives this movie. I still miss that friend from time to time, but clearly it's better for us both that we are no longer part of each others' lives, because when you say something like that to someone it puts too much pressure on them to be there for you 24/7, which isn't sustainable even in a marriage, let alone two friends with their own actual partners. Maybe they'll think of that conversation if they see the movie, maybe not. Either way, it'd definitely suck if we ended up falling into a weird pit and our legs started fusing together. We have very different sleep schedules, for starters.
But on that note, the movie also never really judges the characters either. Can't really get into it without spoiling, but as the "fusing" events get more pronounced, audience members will likely recoil and think "No, cut the parts apart!", but there is occasionally the sense that writer/director Michael Shanks (yes, I'm aware of the lawsuit; no, I don't have an opinion either way, only to say the other movie isn't a horror movie and we are only a couple years removed from people being forced to co-exist more than usual, so it's not totally out of the realm of possibility that two people had the same idea) is fine with people thinking "This actually doesn't sound so bad." If two broken people in a committed relationship really do find themselves whole only when together, and feel loved and at peace with it, who are we to say they're wrong? So that's another thing to discuss.
(I, for the record, never want to be glued to anyone. But if you told me you were undergoing surgery to do it with your partner, I'd support you. However, while I am always happy to splurge for a friend, I will not buy BOTH of your tickets when we go to the movies. If I'm going to be a third wheel I sure as hell ain't paying for the date!)
Anyway, yeah. Good film. Glad it's going wide, even if body horror is never really a big box office draw (and neither actor can be considered one either), because it's a good date movie. Maybe it'll help you realize your partner isn't so bad, or maybe you'll realize you're *spiritually* fusing yourself to someone else and it's best to get out before you drag each other down. Or maybe you'll shave all of your body hair off, since the movie offers not one but two nightmarish scenarios involving it. Both actors are fully committed and do some fantastic physical work, and yes, if you've heard about the lawsuit, you know there's a solid Spice Girls needledrop. So essentially it's an ideal movie in many ways.
What say you?
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