Together

Codependent relationships never work well for those unlucky enough to be involved in one, and after seeing this film, I’m even more scared of the idea.

Centered around Tim Brassington (Dave Franco) and Millie Wilson (Alison Brie), a struggling musician and English teacher, respectively, as they settle down in a new town after the deaths of Tim’s parents, Together is a film that doesn’t shy away from what it means to be codependent in a more literal sense rather than in an emotionally toxic kind of way. Wanting to bring Tim out of his recent funk, Millie takes the advice of one of her coworkers, who explains the wilderness surrounding the couple’s home is full of walking trails that might help Tim get acclimated to their new environment. Accidentally stumbling into a mysterious cave that houses something even more unknown and dangerous, Tim and Millie find themselves stuck in the darkness with no food, water, or immediate way out. Unsure of when they may be rescued, Tim takes a sip from the pond water accumulated in the cave. And once the couple eventually makes it back above ground, things take a turn for the worse. Inexplicably becoming more and more… attracted to one another as the days go on, Tim and Millie are soon unable to go anywhere without physically being by each other’s side, and before they know it, are attached at the hip in a way that’s far more literal than metaphorical. Cue the disgusting body horror.

Pairing up the real-life celebrity couple of Dave Franco and Alison Brie, Together lives and dies by its bonkers hook, with most of the film doing the idea justice in ways that will make you squirm, cringe, cover your eyes, and everything else in between. Starting with a slow burn of a story that ratchets up the tension the longer Tim and Millie begin to fully grasp the terrifying predicament they find themselves in, Together may take a while to get to the good stuff, but once it does, boy does some wild shit go down.

Showing audiences the most basic implications of whatever curse Tim and Millie are plagued with — from simple moments showing them being pulled to one another like magnets to them getting stuck to one another during a more… intimate moment between the two to the totally insane but wildly clever twist ending that fully realizes the film’s potential and more — I appreciated Together‘s script for not pulling its punches, even if it stumbles a few times along the way.

Having a lower budget than I had expected, Together does feel a bit amateurish at times, with the filmmakers carefully choosing what to splurge on and what to cut back on, giving the movie an uneven quality that’s more obvious than I’d like to admit. Still, credit where credit’s due, because not only did this one make a little go a long way, but the gorier body combination scenes were so well done that I couldn’t help but turn away at times.

While parts of the script definitely felt lacking at times — the lead-up to the finale deserved way more attention, for example — and some of the acting feels a little over the top in a few scenes, there isn’t really anything outright wrong with this movie when it comes down to it. Sure, some things aren’t as tightly scripted or fully fleshed out as they could have been, and the computer effects (as opposed to the stellar practical effects) come across as less than ideal looking depending on how they’re utilized, but overall, Together does a lot that I liked, making me hopeful for more competently made horror films like this one.

Though I highly enjoyed Together for its disgusting hook alone, I can’t say it fully succeeded in doing everything it set out to accomplish by the time the credits rolled. But based on the strength of its make-up effects, two leads who have palpable chemistry thanks to their real-life relationship, and a tone that flips between darkly funny and nauseatingly gross, the lesser parts of this movie didn’t bother me as much, turning Together into a refreshingly disgusting body horror flick that would make David Cronenberg proud.