Movie Guy – Buzzing about the fright-flick, “Together”

Published 3:48 pm Friday, August 1, 2025

“Together”

Neon Films

Directed by Michael Shanks

Starring Dave Franco, Alison Brie and David Herriman

Rated R

3 Stars

“Together” was one of the most buzzed about films at the recent Sundance Film Festival. Audiences seemed to love its unique horror premise as well as the meta idea of a real-life couple getting together to make a campy fright flick.

The film finally hits theaters this weekend, and I think that the festival excitement will continue as audiences head to the theater to see why the film has so much buzz. Judging by the general audience reaction when I saw the movie, I suspect that “Together” will prove to be quite divisive. Horror fans should love it. Non-fans will probably shudder in discomfort and confusion.

“Together” tells the story of a young couple (Alison Brie and Dave Franco) who have moved to a small town out in the country. Their relationship is on the rocks, but after they accidentally fall into a creepy cave while out hiking one day, the two will find themselves growing much closer together.

Literally.

Not to spoil the fun, but something supernatural happens to the couple which bonds them together in a way far more than before. The bulk of the film follows them trying to figure out if they are losing their minds, or if these strange events are really happening. I appreciate that they try to fight the experience, which is probably what we would all do rather than ask for help lest people think we’re crazy.

Franco, in particular, gets to play with this dilemma the most. There’s some nice tension as he tries to be a good boyfriend, even while he’s not sure whether he wants to be in the relationship or not. He realizes that he’s a bit of a screw up, so it makes sense that he’s trying to be there for his girlfriend.

Brie spends most of the film wondering about her man, but the couple is in a very codependent relationship, so it’s understandable as they try to tough things out, with dire consequences. These are two unglamorous and utterly believable performances. What’s more, both performers are fully committed to the ugly assignment. This movie wouldn’t have worked with two lesser actors.

Of course, much of the fun of a body horror movie comes from the squee-inducing visuals up on the screen. There are plenty of these moments here for fans of the genre, although I do think that the filmmakers could have taken things further. This is a premise that’s more disturbing in concept than in execution, but I’ll give them credit for what they do manage to create in the film.

On the other hand, I think the screenplay is a bit too invested in explaining what’s going on here. A secondary character (Damon Herriman) appears with the task of dropping cryptic comments and then explaining the entire mystery right before the film’s final moments. That explanation is more than a little bit silly. I think it might have been better to simply watch the couple going through the trauma and never quite understanding what was happening to them.

I have similar feelings about some of the information that is revealed when the boyfriend returns to the cave. He spent the entire night here at the beginning of the story, so why didn’t he see all the creepy clues before?

It’s not much of a critique to say that a horror film filled with supernatural elements can feel a bit unfocused at times. I’ll give the story the benefit of the doubt and say it works well due to the acting, the visual elements and the overall premise.

I’ll stop well-short of calling it a new horror classic, but fright fans will probably keep the buzz going for this fun little horror indie film.

Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published each week in The Port Arthur News and Orange Leader. Sean welcomes your comments via email at sean@seanthemovieguy.com You can get more of Sean’s reviews by subscribing to the 2 Movie Guys podcast.