Together
Rating: 4.5/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
Relationships can be messy. For some couples, they start off great, and then they grow to resent each other within ten years' time. That is the case for Dave Franco and Alison Brie's characters in Michael Shanks' Together, a movie that shows off the hardships, trials, and tribulations of a co-dependent couple. Franco and Brie, who are married in real life, do a fantastic job of bringing this couple alive onto the screen, which is brilliantly complemented by Shank's stellar writing and directing.
Millie and Tim decide to move to the country, abandoning their lives they had known before in the city. With Millie being a teacher and Tim as a struggling musician, they are both trying to find a balance in their lives as they only thing they now know is each other. While they struggle to make it work, Tim starts to find himself struggling with his own personal issues and feelings towards Millie, which puts a major strain on their relationship. What they don't expect is for their relationship to take a turn for the worse, with their bodies forcing them to be together whether they like it or not.
This is Shanks' feature-length directorial debut, and this is a pretty damn good first film. Shanks takes this complex story that explores relationships and personal trauma and is able to translate it into a body horror film. The characters of Tim and Millie are very complex in their own ways, and use their own personal feelings and experiences to ruin parts of their relationship. At the same time, the film does an excellent job of exploring the good and the bad of codependent relationships, and shows how it can take a toll in different aspects.
He brilliantly takes the trauma and adds this body horror aspect to this story to elevate it beyond what it was originally. Sure, it would have been a good film and really hit home for some people if he kept it as a drama, but by adding in these horror elements, he takes this story to a completely different level, one that terrifies the audiences and really comments on the message of the story he is trying to tell. He paints this picture of how toxic some of these relationships could be, and how they could ruin your life in a way, just like it is happening to Millie and Tim.
Franco and Brie are fantastic in their respective roles, and they were the perfect choices to play these characters. Their chemistry is off the charts, which I think helps loads to them being married in real life. They are able to act out these terrifying scenes together, while also being able to show such personality and fun aspects that their characters possess. The scenes that build up to the scare showcases them being as genuinely freaked out as we are watching it unfold, and then they can hash out some funny moments so seamlessly. At the same time, Damon Herriman plays a pivotal character through the course of this story, and he is brilliant as his character, Jamie. Herriman has already shown off his acting chops quite well throughout his career, and this role just shows how much farther he can take his performance capabilities.
Jumpscares have started to become such a horrible gimmick for horror films over the last few years, with poor timing and idiotic thrills cheapening the effect of the film. Those that can craft their scares can perfectly raise the creepiness factor and truly get under the audience's skin. Shanks is thankfully the latter, crafting such tension and dread in the audience that it works so well when the scare happens. There were numerous times I found myself watching through fingers, terrified of what is going to come next. While they are few and far between, the creepiness of it really stays with the viewer long after watching. The cinematography from Germain McMicking perfectly ramps up the terror and creepiness factor as well.
The only complaint I truly do have with this move was I was wanting more blood and gore, as well as more graphic depictions of their bodies forming together. We do get little hints of it at times throughout the movie, but they shy away from showing the audience the gory details. I think that if we got more of this gruesomeness the audience was expecting, it could possibly be scarier and make the audience squirm in their seat a little more.
Like the film's promotional team has dubbed it, this is truly a great date night flick for those not only wanting to be scared, but look at their own relationship in the lens of this film. Not only does it thrill the audience and possibly gross them out at times in terms of the body horror, but the movie simply works as a great dramatic story that touches on problems thousands of couples face. This is very impressive for Shanks first feature length film, and I'm very excited to see what this talented director does next.
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