‘Together’ Review: Alison Brie and Dave Franco Merge Their Talents in Delightfully Gory Romantic Body Horror
Actors and real-life married couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco have worked together on several random projects. It was often a movie directed by either Franco (The Rental, Somebody I Used to Know), where she's center stage, or the late Jeff Baena (The Little Hours), where they’re both onscreen. No one expected this alt-comedic duo to star in a body horror about a couple on the rocks. That’s one way to commemorate the strength of your relationship. Nevertheless, they shine in Michael Shanks' electric horror debut, Together, which was the most fun viewing experience I had during the most recent Sundance (watching it the night before NEON acquired it). It remains the best horror movie of 2025 thus far.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of NEON
MPA Rating: R (violent/disturbing content, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug content.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 43 Minutes
Production Companies: 30West, Tango Entertainment, Picturestart, 1.21, Princess Pictures
Distributor: NEON
Director: Michael Shanks
Writer: Michael Shanks
Cast: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman, Mia Morrissey
Release Date: July 30, 2025
Millie (Alison Brie) and Tim (Dave Franco), who have been together for over a decade, upend their lives and move from Melbourne to a quiet countryside. There, Millie starts a new job at an elementary school. Tim, however, struggles to pursue his indie music career, which has been in limbo. While hiking in their new terrain, they get lost. Following a stream of bells with sunshine symbols, they wind up falling into a pit that leads them into a cave. Tim drinks some cave water. Little do they know there are some ramifications behind touching said water. As they escape and return home, their relationship goes through a myriad of trials and tribulations. Soon, they learn their codependency causes them to become more physically intertwined than they'd expect.
Real couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie texture characters on the rocks so convincingly
Together is a testament to Franco and Brie’s strength as performers, their IRL marital status be damned. Shanks' script hinges on the intricate, slow-burning decline of the couple's status in the myriad of issues they face – Tim staying stagnant in his career, traumatized over childhood memories, and emotionally neglecting Millie, who feels like she's mothering him. Franco and Brie perfectly capture the sensitive relationship between these characters as well as their position in this unspoken animosity. The couple's increasing disconnect is more subtle in its cues, and the two performers effectively conceal it through their individualistic approaches, resulting in an engaging unraveling of their romance. Tim is overly reliant on Millie to carry him emotionally. Franco employs a combination of well-drawn hesitance and passiveness in his body movements and blank stares, texturing Tim as the disengaged partner. With his mind gone astray, he projects all his wishy-washiness onto Millie. Millie harbors much of the burden while having to start anew. She is also yearning for the affection that Tim has not been expressing to her. Brie holds all that baggage with skill and empathy, playing both a partner and a mother. This is well represented when Millie describes Tim to her charming coworker, Jamie (Damon Herriman), as her boy-partner.
Franco and Brie are naturally funny, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that their great chemistry makes every comedic moment a hit, even the dark ones where the body horror is mixed in. Their commitment and boldness create the film's perfect atmosphere, even at its most grotesque or shocking moments.
Come for romance, stay for the ragdoll body horror
Shanks' direction takes its Cronenberg-inspired horror feats and produces a stomach-churning spectacle that will make you squirm, roar, and wince. He skillfully illustrates the effect of their subconscious tethering them together, forcing them to move against their will like ragdolls. Together's merging (hehe) of its body horror elements as a metaphor for codependency is on the nose. However, it’s straightforward and honest. The horror feats are greatly elevated by the stylish shot composition and strong editing choices (I'm a sucker for great match cuts), which exemplify Tim and Millie's unrelenting thirst for each other. The detailing on its technical elements – sound design and practical effects – also impacts the body horror scenes. Each crack or bone crunch that occurs in the couple's ragdoll-like movement sounds like biting into a Dorito chip. The spotlight on the flesh and their body fusion in all its gooey imagery elicits the same chills, or for me, delight, that one has watching a Cronenberg project.
Shanks' script throws every horror cliché and the kitchen sink into the mix regarding the mysterious origins of the liquid source, in addition to its impact on Millie and Tim. So not everything in Together meshes (hehe). There's an element regarding Tim and the haunting trauma he faced during his childhood, becoming a central factor in his reluctance about their move to the countryside. It's well-integrated into his characterization, though it sometimes feels like a cheap ploy to get solid scares. They appear somewhat tacked on to the larger picture, despite their highly developed nature.
Final Statement
Together is a potent showcase for writer/director Michael Shanks, a gory, gross, and deeply romantic body horror, intensified by the remarkable screen dynamic between Dave Franco and Alison Brie. I now pronounce you the new flesh!
