By Matthew Moorcroft

Solid Recommendation

• Directed by Michael Shanks
• Starring Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman, Mia Morrissey
• R

Relationships, amirite?

Almost right away, Together makes it’s intentions pretty clear. And then it’s ultimately about as subtle as sledgehammer to the face, or this case a saw to the arm; you can’t say Together doesn’t have stuff on it’s mind and doesn’t have something of a thematic core at it’s center, that’s for sure. When you have a film about a couple who literally can’t escape from each other and internally need each other more then they care to admit, that’s inescapable. What you really need to overcome this is confidence in your material, your cast, and your genre, and you can be golden.

Together does do this, if eventually. If Together has any major criticism on it is that it saves much of it’s actually great stuff in the backend. While this does mean you leave Together on a high, it’s got a first half that’s mostly surrounded by Hereditary at home-esqe scares that are effective if not particularly new and relationship drama. Said relationship drama actually makes up a significant core portion of the story, as our leads are moving into a smaller town while also dealing with anxieties over marriage, long term goals changing, and the ever present struggle of balancing a sex life in the middle of all of that.

Made all of the more effective by the actually inspired choice to cast an actual married couple in the lead role – with a game Dave Franco and Alison Brie also clearly having a ball with the horror stuff – Together, at points, is maybe one of the best date night movies of the year, ironically. In spite of some of it’s imagery, which ranges from the creepy to the downright icky (if never particularly gross), Together presents a realistic relationship built on foundations that are beginning to shake a bit. Nothing crumbling, mind you – this is a couple that clearly loves each other and both parties are likable enough – but if something isn’t done soon and communication doesn’t happen, then it could be a disaster waiting to happen. Both Franco and Brie do excellent jobs with chemistry as expected, but they also realize the painful truths of long term commitment and how neglected personal needs can lead to resentment. It’s actually some really “soul laid bare” stuff going on with these two here and they carry much of the film on their backs wholesale.

They definitely need it, as while Together certainly is a blast of a time when it gets going, it does need to spin it’s wheels a bit to get that ball rolling. A fantastically tense – and delightfully darkly hilarious – bathroom sex scene turned body horror sequence is the kind of stuff you wanna see from these things, but it’s only once that hits the film really begins to find something of a stride. In a lot of ways, it functions a “baby’s first body horror”, letting an audience who might not be into this kind of story slowly but surely find themselves getting more and more into it before it brings out the nasty stuff. And some of that stuff is nasty in theory, particularly a sequence where Brie has to cut out the skin trapping their arms together, it does tend to restrain itself more then I think it really wants to.

That being said, when Together does eventually work it does ultimately pay off, and it has a satisfying ending that leaves on an image that will likely either give a good chuckle or an understanding nod, or both. Together is indeed a very funny picture when it wants to be as well, fully embracing it’s campier genre roots in a way that make it memorable and fun while also keeping itself in line with it’s themes and ideas.

I can’t really say Together lives up entirely to it’s Sundance hype – it’s far too tame in retrospect and it feels very much like a debut feature in more ways then one – but as a showcase for the talents of it’s two leads, as well as the start of a new voice in horror, Together certainly does get the job done and I found myself hootering and hollering by the end of it. Bring your dates, I think you’ll have a good time here.