Together

Plot

Long term couple, Tim; an aspiring musician and Millie a teacher – move from a large city, to a small town in the middle of the countryside.

Not long after accidentally falling into, and then escaping from a cave – they begin to find themselves ‘drawn’ closer to one another – having been growing apart prior to their move.

Is it just the move that has caused this shift? Or is there something more sinister involved? Something supernatural?

Direction

Written and Directed by Michael Shanks, this is a body horror film – that is actually light on the horror. It plays out more of a relationship drama. The final act – where the true reveal of what is causing the pair to be ‘drawn to one another’ has some great practical and visual effects.

Cast/Characters

James Franco and Alison Brie (who are married in real life) play Tim and Millie.

Damon Herriman plays their neighbour, and Millie’s work colleague Jamie McCabe.

Breakdown

A well written ‘body horror’ film, where we are slowly given information about the couple. Tim, has recently lost his parents (his mother passing not long after his father – whose corpse she sat with for several days). Their relationship is flipped somewhat, with Millie even going as far as proposing to Tim at the going away party.

Soon after arriving in town, they go for a walk around the forest, and falling into a cave – Tim drinks from the cave water, but Millie refuses. After escaping (and being briefly ‘stuck’ together at the leg – this is when Tim begins to be drawn to Millie (mirroring her movements even when they are apart, in a well choreographed Millie driving, and Tim in the shower moment).

The screenplay acts as more a psychological drama/thriller at times, with Tim’s history of his parents, his nightmares of finding his father deceased, and his knowledge of ‘death smells’ for when he finds the rats.

The final reveal, in which a cult resides in the town, and that Jamie is part of it – having once been a married couple of men – and that the cult tries to find couples where “two can become one”. This has resulted in failures in the past (including the discovery of a missing couple called Simon and Keri who went missing before Tim and Millie came to town).

Throughout the film, there are also some quite comical moments including the moment where Tim and Millie are stuck by the arm and they must separate themselves by act of electric saw (gore fans will be upset as we only get the before and after of this).

There are some gross moments too, with one moment Tim is eating Millie’s hair in his sleep. The blend of horror/drama/comedy is very well written.

Overall

A solid film, well written acted and directed.

The blend of drama/thriller/horror is solid, but I was left wanting just a bit more… especially the ‘body horror’ and more on the cult itself.

A strong recommend. You can listen to my Podcast where we dive into this further.

4/5

Please check out my Podcast, where we discuss this one.