Juntos

Going into this film completely blind is the play. Absolutely bonkers.

I appreciate an original horror story when it gets executed to perfection. Funny, cringey (in a good way) and downright absurd.

The story is interesting enough and follows cult/folk lore but the performances by Franco and Brie are the high point. Their chemistry is perfect and believable. The film highlights themes of co-dependency and fear of commitment in a truly insane way.

Granted, there are cliched moments that are usually present in the horror genre. And yes, such moments are in this film, but it definitely doesn't take away from the wild ride. This film reminiscences elements from "The Substance" but it warrants its own distinction.

Definitely up there with one of the best horror movies of the year.

Body horror is a genre that can be difficult to nail. At its best, it is anxiety-inducing, disturbing, and off-putting, often beyond the point of enjoyment. It is horror, not because of the scary monsters or hidden nightmares, but because of the natural human unease towards bodies being bent and broken in ways they shouldn't. As a horror genre fan, I have become desensitized to most of the tactics used to scare in movies, but body horror, done right, never fails.

Together is almost that movie. It builds anxiety both through body horror and simple awkwardness, but just as it rises to the point of being unbearable, it breaks the tension, either with humor or romance. It does this well, but I was left feeling too comfortable, too comfortable for a movie purporting to be a genre based on the opposite. If they had leaned into the body horror more, unwilling to break, this could've been exceptional, but as it stands, I was left wanting.

For someone who is easily scared or is new to body horror, this film could be great. The humor and romance make it more approachable, but it also detracts from the horror. Certainly not a waste of time, but it sucks to see a film come so close only to miss the mark.

Together follows Tim and Millie, who find themselves at a crossroads when they move to the countryside, abandoning all that is familiar in their lives except each other. With tensions already flaring, a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh.

The film sets everything up well. The characters, the relationship, the setting. I liked all that. The story itself was good, but the overall experience felt a bit flat and underwhelming. Things should have happen faster. When the horror, tension, or weirdness finally shows up, it's good. But it doesn't stay there. It never really sits in the moment. More time should have been spent in those moments once they happened, not necessarily more things to happen. It felt like the film was holding back when it should've leaned in. More should've happened emotionally and visually. It felt like it could've gone deeper or darker, and I was ready for it. That's one of my big issues with the film. The body horror and supernatural elements are there, but they could've gone harder with it.

The trailer gave away a lot, so if you've seen it, you've probably already caught most of the big horror moments. That takes away some of the surprise, which is a shame, because the film does have its own story to tell. It's straightforward and easy to follow.

What worked really well was the emotional side of it. The relationship felt real. You could see yourself in these two people, and what they're going through feels honest. Dave Franco and Alison Brie are great together. You can tell they're a real couple. There's a natural chemistry between them that makes everything feel more believable, especially as things start to fall apart. There are also a few funny little moments between them that break up the tension in a nice way, without messing with the overall vibe.

Overall, Together is a solid but not groundbreaking horror/drama. It explores some interesting ideas. I just wish it had pushed things further emotionally and visually. It had all the right pieces. It just didn't go far enough with them.

"Humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves." Plato, The Symposium

Although the current horror film Together doesn't pretend to parse Plato's discourse on love, it relies heavily on the idea that true love is the comingling of minds and bodies that were once separated by Zeus out of envy. Tim (David Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) spend time in a country house seeking to regain the passion they once had.

After a stroll that ends up in a cave (how very Platonic!), they devolve into maddened humans, literally getting under each other's skin. The visuals, even without excessive CGI, are body horror at its best, and allegorically land us in discussion about what love means and how it affects the struggling relationship the drama began with.

Thematically Together wishes to show how much the stressed couple loves each other, even willing to sacrifice their very flesh to reconcile their affections. No couple in the audience can ignore the commentary on the emotional demands of love, the millennial fear of commitment, and the strains that modern lonely life make on romance.

After all, Millie has sacrificed a higher teaching order to take a rural job while he is still at 35 years old trying to play in an indie-rock band. His intermittent impotency, while understandable given his lack of professional success, still seems like a major impediment to taking their love to the next level.

While treating the aud to some icky body horror, writer-director Michael Shanks comments on the challenges of modern living that needs the therapy of communal sharing, of overcoming horrors together to emerge from that cave together toward the future.

I think we as horror fans sometimes fall into the trap of expecting every lower-budget, "indie-but-not-really" horror release from studios like A24 or NEON to be the "scariest film of the year," or some sort of genre classic. But sometimes, it just great to see a good concept executed well. Together makes no pretense of what it is: a small-scale, nasty little summer horror flick that uses the horror elements to explore a metaphor.

While Together isn't ground breaking by any means and you'd have to have absolutely no media literacy to understand what it's analogizing, I don't think that's necessarily a knock on it. In a lot of ways, Together kind of feels like "baby's first body horror," a stepping stone into a genre that's accessible for horror curious audiences. I appreciate that despite being body horror to its core, the movie doesn't try and disgust its audience at every turn.

Don't get me wrong - my favourite movie of 2024 was The Substance, I love my blood and gore as much as the next guy. But, I think it's nice that a film like this exists to gently bring people into this admittedly tough sub-genre to get into.

I also like the clarity of what it's trying to communicate quite refreshing as well; as much as I love a film like Stop Motion, I can see why audiences would mostly leave it frustrated. Together avoids that by pretty much beating you over the head with its metaphor, but not in a way that felt like it underestimated the audience.

I think the reason it works as well as it does is because Dave Franco and Alison Brie have electric chemistry, appearing as much a real couple on screen as they are in real life. There's a raw emotional honesty to their characters and relationship that's hard not to find compelling.

The film does spin its wheels a bit towards the middle and at times seems uninterested in the lore it sets up. Again, this was purposeful and meant to explore the characters more than the literal plot points. I can't criticize film makers for making the "better" choice, even if it did make the narrative a little less sensical than I would've liked.

By the time Together ended I was throughly happy with it. It's a good movie that goes in some very interesting directions and I'd recommend to anyone interested in upping their horror game. Now, would I rush back to rewatch it right away? Probably not.

As much as I've praised the film for being more "accessible" and "easy on the audience," it sort of caps the film at a "pretty good" level for me.