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Review: ‘Together’ is a Supernatural Body Horror Rooted in the Anxiety of Being in a Long-Term Relationship
July 16, 2025Ben MK
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One of the most underrated sub-genres in horror, body horror has given moviegoers some of the most outlandishly disturbing films ever to splatter the big screen. Whether it's the goopy grotesquity of David Cronenberg's The Fly, the cartoonish lunacy of Freaked, or the sheer depravity of The Human Centipede, audiences can always count on the fact that there'll be plenty of blood, gore and ick-worthy moments to make them scream in terror and giggle with nervous laughter. And with Together, writer-director Michael Shanks is adding a new body horror cult classic to the mix, in this tale of a codependent couple whose relationship takes a bizarre and horrifying twist. Starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, the story follows Tim (Franco) and Millie (Brie), two people who have spent the last decade together as romantic partners, but who are no longer sure of where their relationship is headed. A talented musician who hasn't been himself since the death of his father and the emotional breakdown of his mother, Tim is a man whose career in music started off on the right track. However, ever since that fateful night where he discovered his mom catatonic in the same bed as his dad's corpse, he's been slowly slipping into a catatonic state of his own, growing more and more distant and retreating into the darkness of his own thoughts. Millie, on the other hand, has been seeing her career as a teacher flourishing. And when she lands a job at a small-town elementary school located some two hours from the city, it seems like the perfect opportunity for the two of them to pack up their belongings and try to start anew. Moving into their new countryside home, the pair are greeted by a sprawling forest at their doorstep and a friendly neighbor who also happens to work at the same school as Millie. What they could never have anticipated, though, is to also be met by a mystery that they'll soon find themselves inescapably entangled in — one concerning a pair of missing hikers and a sinister, subterranean cave that hides a deep, dark secret. And when Tim and Millie decide to go on a leisurely hike in the woods one day, following a seemingly innocuous trail marked by some ominous looking bells, they'll wind up trying to seek shelter from a torrential rainstorm in that very same cave. Trying to survive the night by drinking the water from a pool at the center of the cave, Millie naturally wonders if it's safe for human consumption. Little do they realize, however, that it may already be too late. And when they start to experience strange and unexplained happenings in the hours and days after emerging from the cave, it may only be a matter of time before their lives — and their very bodies — change forever. It's a premise built around many of the same tropes often found in the horror genre, from the isolated locale to the involvement of an eerie religious cult. What sets Together apart from other movies of the same ilk, however, is the way it utilizes those tropes, anchoring them in the psychological and emotional trauma of its lead characters, turning what might otherwise be a thinly veiled excuse to watch a couple of people try to avoid being literally fused together into a nuanced exploration of what it means to be in a long-term relationship. Of course, that's not to say the result isn't scary. But while Together does have its share of watch-with-one-eye-open moments, it's really Franco and Brie's performances that will stick with viewers once the credits have rolled. It all adds up to a film that has the potential to be 2025's answer to The Substance. But although both movies have their body horror rooted in the inner trauma of their protagonists, that's essentially where the similarities end. Less an all-out splatter-fest and more a suspenseful creep show, Together is about taking a familiar kind of relationship anxiety that many have experienced and exploring it through the lens of supernatural horror. And when it comes to the genre, there's nothing more terrifying than subject matter we can all relate to. Together releases July 30th, 2025 from Elevation Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of R for violent/disturbing content, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug content. Its runtime is 1 hr. 42 min. |
