Together

Relationships are hard, particularly if you're a naturally independent and/or introverted person. Yet the desire for connection and love with another human being is a feeling many, many of us experience. This paradox, this push-and-pull of desire and repulsion, of love and annoyance, is familiar to anyone who has been close to anyone else. Regardless of how much you love someone, sometimes you just don't want to deal with their shit--and they feel the same about you!

You can probably tell what a romantic I am by the above statement. And Michael Shanks' body horror comedy Together is a horror film for all the realist romantics out there because it captures that mixture of lust and disgust that is so common in long term relationships.

And if you're like, "what are you talking about? I feel nothing but pure, sweet love for my partner of many years" then whoop-de-doo for you, you liar! Hahaha, just kidding...

Together stars actual real life married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco, who also happen to be perfect for their roles. Brie is Millie, a smart and slightly high-strung go-getter of a woman who is offered a teaching job in a rural area that will take her away from life in the city. Her boyfriend, Tim (Franco), moves with her but clearly is not so happy about leaving the city and all his friends. Tim is an aspiring musician and although he is offered a touring gig with his old band, he knows that living a train ride away from the city will probably put a significant damper on his career.

Tim is also mourning the death of his parents and has been sexually and emotionally distant from Millie. 

Millie and Tim go for a hike on the trails near their home one day and fall into a cave. They end up spending the night in there and Tim drinks water from a pool in the cave (Millie, understandably, refuses). Although they get out safely the next day, strange things begin to happen. Tim is inexplicably pulled towards Millie as if by supernatural means. After she drops him off at the train station so that he can travel to a gig with his band, Tim abandons his luggage and instruments at the station and walks miles to Millie's school and then fucks her in the boy's restroom, nearly getting caught by Millie's coworker, Jamie (Damon Herriman). 

Whatever Tim has inside himself, he apparently fucked it into Millie as she begins to experience the pull towards Tim. And when I say "pull", I don't mean like they really want to snuggle on the couch while watching Love Island, I mean like their bodies are becoming stuck together...and then fused together.

Together has some really gnarly body horror that is both disgusting, but also really funny. Franco and Brie have excellent chemistry and it's believable that Millie and Tim would be a couple who love each other but are also struggling in their relationship. The movie serves as a metaphor for enmeshment and codependency, but also for that feelings of both wanting to be close to your partner, but also wanting space. As an introvert, what happens to Tim and Millie is my worst nightmare...but as a romantic, I found Together to be sweet in a fucked up way.

It's hard to grade this film because I think it's stronger than a B+, but not quite an "A" level movie because I think there could have been more to it...either it could have gone harder or been less predictable. I'm going to give Together the benefit of the doubt and rate it an A- for the chemistry between the leads, the body horror, and the very appropriate use of a Spice Girls song during a critical moment. 

Grade: B+

Eye see you!