‘Together’: Dave Franco and Alison Brie Are Doomed in Body-Horror Thriller

Sandra Miska

Real-life partners Dave Franco and Alison Brie star and serve as producers in “Together,” a horror thriller that, for their sakes, does not mirror reality. The pair play Tim and Millie, a mid-thirties couple in a long-term relationship who leave behind their friends and life in New York in order to move a few hours outside of the city. The impetus for the relocation is a new teaching job for Millie, but there is also an unspoken hope that the move will be a fresh start for them, as their relationship has been plagued by problems for several months, including a dry streak in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the change of scenery and more isolated style of living only serves to amplify their problems. Throw in some supernatural happenings, and the couple seem downright doomed. Writer-director Michael Shanks uses body horror to explore Tim and Millie’s codependency issues, and the result is a mixed bag of fights, laughs and emotions that never quite gel together.

“Together” starts off on a cringe note, with Millie proposing to Tim in front of their friends at their farewell party. He hesitates to answer her, and only seems to say yes because of the gathered crowd. This scene sets the tone for much to come, because it is Millie who does the vast majority of the work in their relationship, including paying all of the bills while Tim holds on to his dream of making it as a musician. He also is without a driver’s license, which was probably not an issue in the city, but makes him more dependent on Millie in the country. There are some things that cannot be helped, but, overall, he takes her and the relationship for granite. 

The real trouble begins after Tim and Millie take a hike in the woods and end up falling into a cave. Stuck during a rainstorm, they are left with no choice but to spend the night there and drink the dirty water to stay hydrated. The next morning, they wake up to their legs being temporarily fused together, the first in a series of increasingly terrifying occurrences. Tim is the one who is the most affected by whatever spell they are under, and he experiences strange episodes, including one in which seduces Millie in the little boys’ bathroom at her school. Afterwards, their private parts are stuck together, and believe it or not, there is worse to come.

At work, Millie strikes up a friendship with Jamie (Damon Herriman), a kindly man who seems mature in a way that Tim is not. He informs her that the aforementioned cave was once home to a church, which we come to learn was actually a cult, leading to a distractingly half-baked subplot. Tim, meanwhile, becomes obsessed with a couple who went missing while hiking in the same neck of the woods where he and Millie almost died.

The best thing “Together” has going for it is Franco and Brie, who both work overtime to try and make the script work. As a real-life couple who has been together for 15 years, they also bring some authenticity to their roles, though they have never reached as desperate of a place in which their onscreen counterparts find themselves. Brie especially wows in the scenes in which she faces reality about her and Tim’s relationship. There is no denying that Tim and Millie are in a scary place, one in which their relationship is dead on arrival but neither one has the guts to call it. Having their feelings manifest into actual physical horror is a great concept; their enmeshment leads to their being physically fused together. However, the third act, which is both undercooked and bloated, leads to an ultimately disappointing watch.

“Together” releases July 30 in theaters nationwide.