Years into their relationship, Tim and Millie find themselves at a crossroads as they move to the country. With tensions already flaring, an encounter with an unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love and their flesh.
Chuck says:
Curiously paced and at times a bit overt, Michael Shanks’ “Together” ultimately overcomes these faults to deliver an entertaining, albeit disturbing examination of co-dependency. Intimate in setting and scope, the couple at the center of this ever-devolving relationship enact a relatable situation for married viewers who find themselves dealing with disproportionate power dynamics. Meanwhile, genre fans will not be disappointed with the body horror hijinks that take place, that is, once they arrive.
The disharmony between Tim and Millie (real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie) is evident from the start. She’s taken a job as a schoolteacher in a small Connecticut town, something that does not fit in with her husband’s lifestyle. A struggling musician who has yet to find the success he longs for, Tim is still convinced he will make it big and leaving the New York City music scene will derail his hopes. Yet, Millie has been more than understanding, standing by him for years, making sacrifices to help her husband on his way. As a result, Tim doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Like it or not, they’re moving.
It doesn’t take long before Tim’s resentment over the situation starts to show, a sudden strain becoming the focal point of their relationship. It only gets worse when, one day while hiking on a nearby trail, they stumble into a sinkhole littered with odd artifacts and a pool of pristine water. Forced to spend the night there, Tim takes a drink from the pool, which precipitates a change in his behavior. He starts to feel ill whenever he’s separated from Millie to the point that he starts to suffer seizures. He comes to realize the only way to avoid this is to stay near her, a situation that only exacerbates the tension between them.
What results is quite clever as the pair end up becoming literally stuck together when they make physical contact. A kiss results in their lips adhering to each other, while a bout of lovemaking becomes incredibly awkward and very, very painful. Tim does some research regarding a couple that went missing recently in the same woods they ventured into, as well as on a short-lived cult that resided in the area. He determines the water he drank is the cause of this odd condition, though no cure presents itself.
As the couple begin to realize their fate, it’s as if they’ve each been given a dose of truth serum, their honest opinions regarding their feelings for one another suddenly out in the open. Staements of resentment, envy and disgust are uttered, the couple finally realizing that while their actions towards one another were based on love, they’re laden with emotional baggage they hadn’t anticipated.
Shanks’s script is very good in this regard, its examination of the compromises we make and the ever-increasing animosity that results, resonating and growing as the couple’s plight grows more dire. Equally effective is the way in which their co-dependence is brought to life, as Tim and Millie’s efforts to stay apart ultimately prove futile. Combining practical effects with CGI wizardry, the gradual melding of their body parts is impressive as well as horrifying.
While Shanks’ premise is clever, he nearly loses the audience with his deliberate narrative. Far too much time is spent establishing the history of the small village the couple has moved to and the source of their troubles. Yet, in the end, the vicarious nature of the narrative keeps us hooked, curious as to if there’s an escape provided for Tim and Millie. That you might be on the lookout for a way to get out of a relationship of your own while taking in “Together” is something you should perhaps keep to yourself.
3 Stars
