Together

Millie (Alison Brie) and Tim (Dave Franco) struggle with their relationship in Together (Distributed by Neon)

Millie and Tim have been a couple for almost a decade. She is still devoted to him, but he’s been distant for a while, like he’s barely a part of the relationship at this point. When Millie gets a job as a teacher out in the country, Tim moves with her. She seems excited, he seems resigned. Could this possibly be the spark that they need? After a bumpy start to the transition, they take a hike into the woods, where they stumble into a mysterious cave. The next day, things feel different. Before, they were maybe slowly drifting away from each other. Now, they can’t live apart. Literally.

Together is a captivating, occasionally funny, smart, horror movie about a couple who lean on one another for their identity. Despite featuring some impressively grotesque body horror, the focus is entirely on what is going on between Millie and Tim. The story is first and foremost interested in the effect the two have on each other and how that begins to dramatically change, in extreme and unsettling ways. The horror stuff, though certainly prominent, is more of a side effect of their experience.

It is a surprisingly thoughtful movie when it comes to what it means to truly commit yourself to another person. How far can you go before you risk losing yourself? While the blood and gore may bring people in, there is a lot more depth to it than that. It has complex ideas and melds them into the genre brilliantly. This is a very clever, and thrilling, allegory for toxic codependency.

Love or familiarity? Comfort or complacency? Why are they still together? Millie constantly talks about what a great guy Tim is, but is he still that guy? He has definitely been withdrawn ever since the death of his parents. Tim says he loves her, yet there is no passion. It is more like they are with each other because they don’t know how not to be.

When things begin to change, the impact is a lot more noticeable on Tim at first. He suddenly feels an unshakable urge to be around her all the time. That scares Millie. He knows something is wrong, while she is just creeped out by his uncharacteristic behavior. Where the screenplay takes their relationship is both odd and strangely unavoidable. Once it gets going, that is the only direction that makes sense. There is an inevitability to what they go through that is genuinely unnerving.

Writer/director Michael Shanks is not afraid of losing his audience’s attention. Together (96 minutes, without the end credits) builds fairly slowly in its first half, establishing the mood and gradually introducing the icky elements. By the time things are going crazy, it is easy to care because we kind of know these people.

This is the type of movie that really benefits from having a real-life married couple in the lead roles. Though not everyone watching will know that, there is a clear chemistry that clicks even when the characters are at odds. Dave Franco, as Tim, and Alison Brie, as Millie, find a believable balance between worrying about their lives and worrying about this bizarre thing happening to them. They are both very good.

Together is an intense relationship story with a horror concept, that is also quite amusing at times. The writing is sharp, even if there is too much explaining for my taste, and the central performances are strong. It is an entertaining movie, that might leave you a bit uncomfortable and create some unexpected conversation on the drive home with your significant other.

4 out of 5

Cast:

Dave Franco as Tim

Alison Brie as Millie

Damon Herriman as Jamie

Written/Directed by Michael Shanks