Sundance Review: Together Places Alison Brie and Dave Franco in a Relationship Thriller

      In Michael Shanks’ directorial debut Together, Millie (Alison Brie) cautions her boyfriend Tim (Dave Franco) that if they do not “split up” now, it will only become more difficult later. She had no idea just how right she was. After nearly ten years of being together, Millie and Tim find themselves no closer to marriage and children than they were when they first met. When Millie proposes to Tim in front of their friends, he remains speechless and frozen. While this is not the ideal start for settling down, they decide to leave the city and move into a house far from their friends. Millie has taken a teaching position at a small school and is eager to engage more with her students. Tim, on the other hand, lacks a stable job; he plays music and still dreams of rock stardom. He also does not have a driver’s license, which means Millie has to drive him to the train station whenever he needs to go to the city for a gig. Millie wishes Tim had a clearer path, but she wants to support him as they start this new chapter in their lives. Complicating matters is Jamie (Damon Herriman), their neighbor who also works at Millie’s school. He’s charming, more mature, and more self-assured than Tim, which makes Tim see him as a romantic rival.

      Things take a strange turn when the couple gets lost while hiking and stumbles into a bizarre hole that leads to a religious temple. It begins subtly, as their thighs become stuck together, forcing them to break apart to climb out. However, once they return home, the dynamic between them shifts significantly. When Millie drives away in her car, Tim starts to move involuntarily in the shower, as if trying to follow her outside. During his visit to the doctor, he is given muscle relaxants, with the assumption that his body is simply tense due to the stress of their move and recent family issues. That night, something even stranger occurs—Millie awakens to find Tim swallowing her hair. Given that mental illness runs in his family, Millie struggles to believe that Tim’s peculiar behavior is unintentional. Yet, he is convinced that something unusual is happening to both of them, and they must collaborate to address it.

      Discussing Together without revealing the dynamics between the couple is challenging. Their bodies serve as a metaphor for their codependent relationship, making it increasingly difficult to separate whenever they are physically close. The film excels with its visual and sound effects, showcasing every vividly grotesque aspect of their situation. We hear bones cracking and limbs jerking, along with plenty of blood and gore. One of the film's standout scenes features the couple engaging in passionate sex before finding it hard to disengage afterward. Their bodies, feeling secure intertwined, resist being apart again. Before the move, their physical intimacy had been lacking, but now Millie is eager for closeness, though Tim’s clinginess adds a sense of unease. Is he genuinely yearning for her, or is his desperation stemming from a fear that she might soon want to end their relationship?

      Together is a horror film that relishes in punishing its characters. Although Millie and Tim display affection for each other, the camera observes them critically, aware of what they need to do before they do. Franco and Brie have great chemistry, embodying a couple who suddenly realizes, in their 30s, how much time has slipped by. Their real-life marriage enhances the familiarity of their dynamic and adds a playful element to their conflicts. Millie has matured in the expected ways, yet she still clings to Tim, who has not evolved alongside her. Tim appears to desire solitude but is too fearful to make that choice—a typical guy who avoids taking ownership of his decisions and confronting his unhappiness. In reality, they might continue this way for several more years, but Together presents them with a cosmic intervention. Relationship horror is a genre that holds immense potential for both fear and emotional depth, yet it remains underexplored.

      As Together transitions into full body-horror territory, Shanks unleashes a delightfully gruesome third act that takes significant visual and narrative risks. By the time the film reaches its conclusion, it delivers an unexpected ending tinged with a melancholy that Shanks may not fully acknowledge. Overall, Together is a thrilling journey that delves into how we confine ourselves in relationships out of fear of loneliness and self-discovery. It serves as both a tragic love story and a cautionary tale, wrapped in a thought-provoking narrative that is sure to inspire conversation.

      Together debuted at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and is set to be released on August 1 by NEON.

      Grade: B