Together

"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 enjoyed it. It was a unique wtf horror/romance with some moments of humour. I thought Dave and Alison played their parts very well and as a real life couple it helped with their on screen chemistry. I hope they continue to do horror together because it worked. The story is pretty much spoiled in all the trailers but the ending caught me off a bit and the final scene before credits was a bit laughable and silly but overall I enjoyed the film and was glued to it til the end.

My girlfriend and I went to this movie as part of Landmarks mystery movie night. I found the movie really kept you guessing as to what direction it was going to go. I thought Franco and Brie were great for their respective roles. The movie took a turn halfway through that threw me off, but it brought me back in at the end.

Not a revolutionary horror movie by any means but I quite enjoyed it! Recommend for anyone that's interested in checking out an original and interesting horror movie with some depth. I have found myself thinking about the film over the past few days since I saw it. It has a good mix of themes and had a few good laughs.

A bit outlandish at times (maybe even most of the time) but nonetheless I found it entertaining. Check it out 🙂

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.

While some of the cliched tropes in the horror genre are sticked within it's narrative and characters, the original horror concept, great atmosphere, visual make-up designs and the strong performances from Dave Franco and Alison Brie offers a fun horror, comedy and body horror tale.

For a debut project, director Michael Shanks really captures the horrific and bonkers nature of the body horror genre. Raving with great atmosphere, practical effects (which some were grossly cringeworthy which succeeds on the good aspects about body horror), and the direction. The writing explores some interesting themes about relationships, dependency and how bonds can be a fear within the self of someone. While I do admit some aspects, especially the way how characters are approached and some of the elements feel cheesy, the narrative works for the most.

Franco and Brie has some great chemistry between one another, especially when the horror body elements are shown every time they are on screen. Although some of the dialogue moments were a bit strange, as a whole, the horror and body elements of this movie was successful.

Overall, a good Midnight movie.