Together Review: Allison Brie and Dave Franco Shine In Gross Body Horror

Real life couple Allison Brie and Dave Franco are co-leads together in a film for the first time in Together, a body horror narrative about how far some people will go to save their relationship.

Synopsis:

"Years into their relationship, Tim (Franco) and Millie (Brie) find themselves at a crossroads when they move to the countryside, abandoning all that is familiar in their lives except each other. With tensions already flaring, a nightmarish encounter with a mysterious, unnatural force threatens to corrupt their lives, their love, and their flesh."

Cast: Allison Brie, Dave Franco, Damon Herriman

Release Date:

In Theaters Now

Real Life Chemistry Translates To The Big Screen

Credit: NEON

This film really is anchored by the two lead actors and it's no wonder they have been married for almost a decade once you see their on-screen chemistry in the film. They essentially are our only two characters in the entire movie, with the focus on them from almost beginning to end. They really do sell the relationship well and it makes the events that take place throughout the film make a lot more sense due to that chemistry. I know Dave Franco is known more as a comedic actor due to some of the more popular roles he's had in his career, but this was a real standout dramatic performance from him. His character goes through some real trauma once the main plot device makes its way into his body and he portrays it in a really convincing way, even with how ridiculous it can be. There's a real desperation from him throughout the film, to be both accepted by his girlfriend in Brie's character and by the world at large. That struggle is really mirrored by the supernatural aspect of the plot and I think Franco played this out well in a career-best role.

When looking at Allison Brie, she's someone who I'm less familiar with compared to Franco just because I haven't seen her in many films. Regardless, she puts in a really special performance in this movie. I don't necessarily agree with some of the choices they had her character make throughout this movie, but that doesn't have anything do with Brie's performance. The way her character acts around the state her life is in and her deteriorating relationship requires a really precise acting performance; with Brie giving exactly what is required for this role.

Obviously the two of them give some great dramatic acting in the more intense scenes, but I was just as impressed with the subtle moments both before and during the main conflict.

Body Horror Elements Horrifically Crafted

Credit: NEON

As I hinted at in the title, this film is really hard to watch at some points. It well and truly is a body horror movie, with many gross sequences relating to our main characters. As disgusting as this could be, all of these scenes were really well made considering this isn't a big budget blockbuster. Effects wise, everything completely sold me and I didn't notice any bad-looking moments. There's multiple scenes were the two main characters are literally fusing together at certain points in their body and it's genuinely revolting to look at. But I mean that as a complement to the filmmakers, since I'm sure it can't be easy to sell these sequences with an indie horror budget. There's also a couple creature designs in this movie that were really strong, with one feeling like it took heavy inspiration from The Substance (wether intentionally or not). The film opens with a kind of prologue introducing the concept of what Brie/Franco are about to go through and it ends with an incredibly creepy image that was done really well effects wise. For a film of this nature it needed to do well with the body horror elements and I again give credit to the filmmakers as it looked even better than could be expected.

I can't talk about the final shot of this movie without getting into spoilers, but that's really the only thing that I thought it looked really uncanny and weird.

Tension and Horror On Point

Credit: NEON

Director Michael Shanks has his first full-length release with Together and I left really impressed by his filmmaking style. The first standout positive would be the tension he crafts for this film. There's a lot of really intense scenes throughout the second and third act, with Shanks allowing for the audience to be on the edge of their seats the entire time. Obviously these scenes being so good really speaks to Franco/Brie, but it wouldn't have worked without some great direction from Shanks. I also really enjoyed the more horror-focused elements to this one. People who know me know I'm not a horror fan by any means, but I think all the scary elements of this one intrigued me in a way modern day horror films usually don't. It's tense, it's scary and you really feel invested in the story once we get into it. I'll be keeping an eye on any future projects from Shanks because I think he had a really impressive debut here.

Odd Narrative About Modern Day Relationships

Credit: NEON

I didn't have many standout problems with Together, but the one I would say is that I don't totally think the narrative they tried to tell about relationships really worked. Especially towards the end of the film, I think the desperation from our main characters gets a little unrealistic. Obviously it's not meant to be hyper-realistic or anything, it's a body horror movie with many supernatural elements, but I still would've appreciated more realistic storytelling when it came to this theme. When it comes to Brie's character, she makes a lot of decisions as the story goes on that are just ridiculous and don't seem in character based on what we know about her to that point. Although I was sold on their romance, she takes it to a point that just didn't win me over based on how her character had developed in Act 1-Act 2. I can give them a slight pass for the ending because I think they are just trying to really commit to the body horror aspect as much as possible, but the 30 minutes before that and what leads the two main characters to that final decision just didn't really work for me. Not anything that docked my enjoyment a huge amount, but does limit the film's ceiling when looking at the other horror films of 2025.

Final Thoughts

Together is not without problems, but will be an incredibly enjoyable watch for anyone that decides to go see it. It bolsters two great lead actors, an interesting plot and some especially creepy elements that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire time. Not a standout film for 2025, but I had a great time with it! Go see this movie!

Rating: 4/5 Stars

2025 Ranked:

Note: I only included the top 20 out of the 55 2025 new releases that I've seen so far this year, for editing purposes.

Additional Note: My 'Sorry, Baby' review is coming later this week!