Some body horror films hit you with surprises (last year’s “The Substance”) and others tell you what they’re doing right up front and you have a twisted sort of fun with the cringey ride. “Together” is one of the latter.
LIGHT SPOILERS FOLLOW for those who want to know absolutely nothing, but it’s pretty obvious from the title, the poster and a brief synopsis that “Together” is going to find couple Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) under a curse which draws them together, literally. The fun will be in seeing the special effects and perhaps an eventual mash-up monster.
If you wannabe …
Because it’s so clear what’s happening, writer-director Michael Shanks’ film doesn’t come together into something as deep as “The Substance,” but it’s a rather original new classic that offers food for thought beyond the closing credits.
“Together” (2025)
Director: Michael Shanks
Writer: Michael Shanks
Stars: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman
The couple, played by actors who have been married since 2017, are past their heady romance stage and now comfortable with each other. But Millie wonders if they are in love or simply used to each other. Sure, Tim bought her the Spice Girls’ “Spice” on vinyl early in their courtship, but what has he done lately? Tim wonders if his music hopes have to be set aside as they move from city to woodsy countryside for her new teaching job.
Shanks makes aggressive use of metaphors about a couple’s bond at every bend. Millie’s friendly fellow teacher and neighbor, Jamie (Damon Herriman), recounts Plato’s tale: Humans originally had four arms, four legs and two faces. The gods split humans in two, so we’d always search for our other half.
The special effects and stunt work are top-shelf as Tim and Millie become anthropomorphic Play-Doh literally acting out the myth of Plato. They soon realize what’s going on, and look like contortionists (I’m guessing real contortionist stunt people were used) as they try to resist the magnetic pull.
Shanks peppers in a decent mystery mood involving a couple that went missing on a hike, plus the motivations of Jamie. Brie and Franco are on point, but interestingly, they communicate the arguments more so than sizzling chemistry. I suppose this makes sense as they are several years into their real-life relationship.
Say you’ll be there (Spoilers)
(MORE EXTREME SPOILERS FOLLOW.) This is a perk rather than a bug, but it’s odd to note that “Together” does not clearly take a position on the relative merits of closely bonding with one other human being (as illustrated by the familiar societal structure of legal marriage, a shared bed, and putting the good of the two above the good of the one — such as moving for one person’s job).
On the other side of the ledger is a purer individualism. As Tim’s bandmate puts it, thus scaring Tim: “When I die, I don’t want to see someone else’s life flash before my eyes.”
In the real world, the answer is perhaps to find a balance. But it is interesting that things like separate bedrooms, long stretches apart for the sake of career needs, and rejection of institutional marriage are not normalized. Societies around the world lean toward close bonds wherein individual freedom will be sacrificed whenever necessary.
For many couples, this is the right approach, but it’s interesting how most of the world says it’s the only allowable approach. “Together” might be getting at that in the margins, because it takes a more horrific than romantic tone. But it also has enough winking moments that I’m not sure.
Spice up your life (Spoilers)
The film’s cliched romantic moments have an automatic comic-creepy edge because the curse of Tim’s and Millie’s literal magnetism can’t be shaken (muscle relaxants allow them only temporary reprieves). And I suspect a twisted type of fun was on the filmmakers’ mind throughout the project, which is why Millie’s favorite record is “Spice,” which includes the song “2 Become 1.”
The final image is of an androgynous Tim-Millie (“Tillie” as a cutesy couple name?). Tillie looks like a normal human, but we’re invited to see them through the eyes of Millie’s visiting parents. Of course they’ll be horrified. If they had resisted the curse, though, one of them would have had to kill themselves or, alternatively, they’d fight the cohesion and be a monster like the lost hiking couple.
The creation of Tillie is horrifying because Tim and Millie had no other good choice; therefore “2 Become 1” is darkly comedic and ironic, not romantic. That said, the only way they can both live is to accept the bond; they both sacrifice themselves. What’s more romantic than that? The 50-50 ambiguity of the ending is one last perfect metaphor for the challenges of coupledom.
Along with “Heart Eyes” and “Companion,” we can now safely say horror-romances are a trend in 2025. People are dating and marrying less, and divorcing more. But “the search for your other half” outlined by Plato remains, and “Together” resonates in the confusing space of single-dom, without offering comforting answers.