Have you ever seen a seriously messed up film and felt … relieved? Like somebody finally made a film for you and you alone? Imagine coming out of, say, Eraserhead with that feeling. Or Oldboy … or Donnie Darko, something along these lines.
This is very near the feeling I got having emerged from Together, a messed-up film that made me smile like I was in on a secret.
Millie (Alison Brie) and Tim (Dave Franco) are a struggling young couple. The big problem is they are struggling like a couple in their 20s when they are both in their 30s. (Actually, they’re now both in their 40s, but we can pretend as they still look young-ish.) She is a school teacher; he is still an aspiring musician. How old do you have to be before the rockstar dream can finally be put to rest, huh?
Tim is having serious commitment issues. At an El Lay party, Millie gets down on one knee in front of all of their friends, presents him with an imaginary ring and Tim’s response is … unencouraging to say the least. The couple hasn’t had sex in months, and clearly Tim isn’t ready to do anything permanent. And yet, the couple moves to the country, isolating themselves from not only everyone they know, but pretty much everyone they don’t know as well.
Speaking of wells, Millie and Tim go hiking in their nearby woods and fall into a gap in the forest floor. Is this an underground church? What’s with the bell, the pews on the walls, and that drink-me-if-you-dare underground well? Given the weather and the plight, the pair are forced to stay the night in their newfound digs. In the morning, they are -quite literally- stuck to one another, like glue. Like crazy glue. Like “you might need stitches when you pry yourselves apart” glue.
And this is where the horror begins. I shall not delve into it further.
Together is a cringe-worthy examination of romance and communication and commitment in the form of hide-your-eyes horror. There is a scene in this film for which I did hide
my eyes. Writer/director Michael Shanks, do you know how many films I’ve seen? How many horror films I’ve seen? I’ve rated hundreds on this blog alone. Getting me to a position of “I can’t bear to look and I can’t bear not to” takes a bit of doing. Congratulations.
In addition, this is a horror film with something to say. Most horror fans will tell you that is a rarity, only because it is. Horror is all about mood and screams and monsters and blood and jump scares. Psychological horror is something else; it is a different animal, and one I respect more, like the difference between, say, checker sand chess. Together wants to make a point about couplehood, how it struggles and how it survives while showing exactly the places where hope goes to die. This is a very adult film for very adult people, preferably ones who know all-too-well how marriages survive and how they die, but first you kinda have to like horror as well.
A city couple, Mille and Tim
Move to country on a whim
Cursed by a chasm
It’s a horror orgasm
Their survival chances? I’m gonna say, “slim”
Rated R, 102 Minutes
Director: Michael Shanks
Writer: Nichael Shanks
Genre: F***ed-up films
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who love a good mind-f***
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: This ain’t for amateurs or the faint-of-anything, baby
