Movie Review: TOGETHER

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: July 30th, 2025 / 02:18 PM

Rating: R
Stars: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman
Writer: Michael Shanks
Director: Michael Shanks
Distributor: Neon
Release Date: July 30, 2025

What do we need out of a committed relationship and what are we willing to give up to get it? These questions are often asked in films (and television and plays and books and songs and articles and so on), but they are usually not posed as they are in TOGETHER.

Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Michael Shanks (not to be confused with the STARGATE SG-1 actor of the same name), TOGETHER starts with a search for a missing couple. Two dogs used in the search fall into a hidden hole in the woods and drink from a pool at its bottom. They are rescued, but something odd happens to them.

We then meet another couple, Tim (David Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie). Tim is a musician, still chasing the big time at age thirty-five; Millie is a schoolteacher.

At a going-away party with their friends, celebrating the impending move from the big city to the small town where Millie has a new job, Millie gets down on her knees and proposes to Tim. Tim hesitates before saying yes. It’s a preview of ambivalence to come.

Not yet married, Millie and Tim move into an enormous house on a secluded lane that backs up onto a forest. Their nearest neighbor is Millie’s new colleague Jamie (Damon Herriman). Jamie is friendly; Tim suspects he has designs on Millie.

Millie and Tim go on a hike through the woods. It starts raining. They wind up in the hole from the prologue and eventually must drink from the pool before they are able to climb back out.

Following this, Millie and Tim feel newly drawn to each other – but when they touch, their skin actually sticks together. Do they need to keep apart to avoid their flesh bonding? Can they keep separate now that they are being influenced by this strange power?

There is body horror and some straight-up horror, along with a fair amount of humor in TOGETHER. There is great use of shadows and space and uncommon physicality.

But what’s really striking here is how filmmaker Shanks gets us, along with the characters, to contemplate the implications of their predicament. Some tangential issues are explored as well, including how self-doubt and self-image have more impact on a union than the perceptions of a mate.

There are a few loose ends, most notably why Tim is initially so much more overwhelmed than Millie. This seems to be more a matter of narrative convenience than story logic.

Otherwise, TOGETHER unfolds remarkably effectively. Franco and Brie are unafraid to be as emotional and terrified and enraged as they are called upon to be. Herriman is consistently warm and soothing.

One of the biggest sources of suspense in TOGETHER is how this can possibly end. The answer is a surprise in both its form and how it feels. While the themes here have been investigated elsewhere, the method and the suggestions of TOGETHER make it a true original.

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