How do our romantic relationships shape us? It’s a question many have tried to answer—psychologists, musicians, neuroscientists, poets and philosophers. The effects of our relationships on us are pervasive, spreading through our thoughts and feelings, invading our decision-making and morphing how we live our lives. But what if a romantic connection did even more—and physically shaped us?

Together, written and directed by Michael Shanks and starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, explores the viscerality of codependence and the internal fire that burns when relationship and self are blurred. With a powerful script, gnarly special effects and fierce performances from Franco and Brie, Together takes the audience through a relationship journey full of attachment issues and bone-chilling body horror.

Together marks Shanks’s directorial debut, and has a true-to-life feeling that makes his future work promising. The film opens with a farewell party for Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) as they prepare to take a big step in their relationship—moving to the countryside together. There’s already a sense of unease at the party, with their city-type friends questioning the couple’s decision and Tim being offered a music gig in the city they’re moving away from. Despite the happy backdrop, Tim and Millie are clearly not on the same page when it comes to the big move, their career choices and even the direction their relationship is going.

Although Tim and Millie are seriously mismatched, they continue to go along like everything is normal. And that sense of unease from earlier in the film is only heightened by their isolation in their new small town. On their first day in their new home, Tim and Millie get lost in the nearby woods, spend the night in a dark cave and soon after notice strange things happening to their bodies. Their bodies become more and more dependent on each other, with Tim becoming physically ill when too far away from Millie. As Tim and Millie try to unravel the mystery behind why their bodies are being thrust together, they continue to avoid the difficult conversations they should have, becoming both more frustrated and somehow more enamored with each other.

If you’ve ever been in a rocky relationship, you’ll immediately recognize the patterns of arguments, passive aggressive comments and rising resentment that Millie and Tim act out. In this way, Together recalls Midsommar—another movie building tension in the pit of your stomach before it’s fully realized on screen. Comfort and familiarity are powerful and the sunk cost fallacy freezes people into circumstances that aren’t ideal anymore. Tim and Millie’s relationship speaks to the reality of how comfort, familiarity and the sunk cost fallacy freezes people into circumstances that aren’t ideal anymore. In a post-film Q&A, Shanks shared that Tim and Millie are based on his wife and the “worst version of himself.” Shanks’s reality seeps into these characters and it almost feels like he wrote actual arguments he’d have with his wife into the script. Exploring the idea of codependency and relationship tension using body horror as a metaphor was well-thought out and executed with veteran precision.

Those body horror elements further highlight Tim and Millie’s clear differences while ironically bringing them closer together. The special effects, prosthetics and makeup heavily contribute to the overall feeling of unease between Franco and Brie. Many of the special effects layered over the prosthetics were added by Shanks in post-production, as he acted as both director and a visual effects editor. The layer of makeup effects accentuated by visual effects creates stunning and realistic body contortion and fusing that feels raw and edgy. The effects were timed at peak moments of intensity between the couple’s arguments, forcing them together physically at their worst. The ferocity of the mysterious force that’s pulling them towards each other can’t be understated; it can only be amplified, and that’s where the special effects really shine. The caliber and skill of the effects design was reminiscent of the body horror in The Substance, both memorable and shocking. A Letterboxd review put it best: “so nice to see elisasue is doing well <3” (@cinemonika)

Franco and Brie, who have been together for over a decade in real life, are both mostly known for their comedic roles in film and TV; neither actor had starred in a horror flick throughout their expansive careers. In the Q&A, Shanks and Franco shared that Shanks was a fan of Franco’s directorial debut The Rental, which led to their collaboration. Franco has publicly expressed his warmth towards the genre and has seemingly converted Brie to the dark side. As a real-life couple, their history together adds depth to their characters, and their connection was palpable on-screen both during sweet, tender moments and rocky, awkward conversations. The couple’s potential in the horror genre is obvious and Franco and Brie’s guttural reactions, full-body pushes and pulls and creation of tension through performance was on par with horror veterans.

I was fortunate enough to watch this film in a completely full theatre and the sighs, groans and laughter from the audience truly felt like this is how the movie was meant to be seen. The catharsis of body horror is one that’s incredibly refreshing. It’s commentary but not preachy, it has a message but it’s up to the viewer’s interpretation. Franco noted that “everyone comes at [the film] from a different angle,” and in his experience at the screenings, audience members felt all sorts of emotions depending on their own relationship experiences; one couple even came to the movie angry and made up after watching Together, according to Franco. So, how do our romantic relationships shape us? Go watch Together and get back to me.
If you enjoyed Together, you should watch Saw, another romantic horror favorite (in my opinion).

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Together Review: Body Horror's Romantic New Arm