Few films manage to combine body horror, psychological dread, and biting relationship satire quite like Together, writer-director Michael Shanks’ gleefully grotesque and darkly hilarious take on codependency. Starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, this off-the-wall thriller takes audiences on a deranged ride that blends Cronenbergian body horror with twisted relationship metaphors—resulting in a film as disgusting as it is deeply entertaining.

From the moment Franco’s struggling musician Tim and Brie’s frustrated schoolteacher Millie move to a remote town in search of a fresh start, Together wastes no time in setting the stage for impending doom. As they navigate an increasingly strained relationship, a mysterious force lurking within the surrounding forest quite literally pulls them together in ways they never expected. What begins as a troubled romance quickly descends into body-morphing madness, complete with gooey mutations, cult conspiracies, and the ultimate horror: commitment.

Shanks’ film operates on an ingenious conceit: what if an unhealthy relationship manifested itself physically? What if the inability to emotionally separate from one another turned into a grotesque, bodily transformation? These ideas form the backbone of Together, which revels in its central metaphor while delivering stomach-churning sequences that would make David Cronenberg and John Carpenter proud.

Franco and Brie play Tim and Millie, a couple whose love is on the rocks but who still cling to each other despite growing resentment. Tim’s lack of direction and Millie’s increasing frustration with his aimlessness come to a head when she impulsively proposes marriage at their going-away party—only for Tim to hesitate before saying yes. The unease follows them as they relocate to an isolated town, where they soon discover an ancient, supernatural force lurking beneath the ground. After an ill-fated hike, a torrential downpour forces them to take shelter in a cavernous pit, where Tim—ignoring all horror movie logic—drinks from a murky underground pool.

What follows is a nightmare of bodily mutations and magnetic force: they wake up to find their legs fused together by a slimy, sinewy substance. As their condition worsens, every moment of physical separation results in pain, involuntary muscle contractions, and terrifying, inexplicable impulses. Suddenly, the film’s core theme—how relationships can feel suffocating, inescapable, and even parasitic—becomes quite literal.

One of Together’s greatest strengths is the commitment of its two leads. As a real-life married couple, Franco and Brie bring undeniable chemistry to the film, which only heightens the sheer absurdity of their predicament. Franco’s Tim is hapless, insecure, and prone to self-destruction, while Brie’s Millie is practical, driven, and increasingly exasperated by her partner’s lack of initiative. Their dynamic feels painfully real—until it becomes hilariously, disgustingly unreal.

The film finds dark humor in the body horror, particularly in scenes where their situation forces them into increasingly awkward and mortifying predicaments. At one point, an attempt at intimacy results in an unfortunate fusion that had Sundance audiences gasping in horror and cackling in disbelief. It’s a scene that recalls The Fly in its grotesque absurdity, but with an extra layer of uncomfortable hilarity.

Beyond the physical horror, Together is also a psychological thriller, as Millie and Tim struggle to maintain their individual identities while being quite literally glued together. Their relationship morphs from tense to terrifying, with Millie fighting to regain autonomy while Tim, plagued by strange impulses, slowly succumbs to whatever supernatural force has taken hold of him.

The horror in Together isn’t limited to its central relationship. The town they’ve moved to is hiding its own grotesque secrets, namely a long-lost cult that once worshipped an ancient force within the forest. Damon Herriman plays Jamie, Millie’s unsettlingly friendly coworker who seems a little too eager to welcome her to town. As the couple’s condition worsens, Jamie’s true nature becomes apparent—he knows exactly what’s happening to them, and he might even have a plan for their inevitable transformation.

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Shanks expertly builds tension through an eerie, slow-burn approach, using the town’s folk-horror elements to complement the couple’s bodily decay. The cinematography captures both the natural beauty of the setting and the creeping dread that pervades every scene. One particularly unnerving sequence sees Tim, overcome with an uncontrollable compulsion, violently thrown around a shower stall by an unseen force—only for Millie, miles away, to simultaneously experience a similar loss of control.

The more the couple resists their supernatural connection, the stronger its pull becomes, leading to moments of horrific comedy as they are quite literally dragged together across rooms. Their attempts to break free from one another only result in further grotesque mutations, culminating in a final act that is as horrifying as it is oddly touching.

Despite its gooey exterior, Together is not just about shock and gore—it’s a clever deconstruction of relationships, commitment, and the terrifying idea of completely losing oneself in another person. Through its visceral body horror, the film tackles real anxieties about dependency, emotional stagnation, and the ways in which toxic relationships can consume and reshape individuals.

Shanks injects the film with biting humor, keeping things from becoming too bleak. There’s a playfulness to the horror that makes it reminiscent of Evil Dead 2, Society, or The Thing—films that balance grotesque imagery with moments of absurdity. A recurring joke about social media influencers, an unexpected (and deeply unsettling) musical moment, and the constant presence of a suspiciously well-placed electric saw add layers of twisted humor that keep the film engaging even in its most horrifying moments.

Together is a wildly entertaining, unapologetically bizarre film that will satisfy horror aficionados while delivering a surprisingly deep emotional core. Franco and Brie’s fearless performances, combined with Shanks’ confident direction and a wickedly original premise, make this a standout entry in the body horror canon.

While the film’s emotional depth doesn’t always match its gruesome visuals, and some character moments could have been fleshed out further, Together is a film that embraces its weirdness and delivers a truly unforgettable ride.

If you like your horror with equal parts humor and grotesquerie, Together is a must-watch. Just be prepared to clutch your stomach—and possibly your genitals—during some of its more intense scenes.

Rating: ★★★★½

Title: Together
Festival: Sundance (Midnight)
Director-screenwriter: Michael Shanks
Cast: Dave Franco, Alison Brie and Damon Herriman
Sales agent: WME
Running time: 1 hr 42 min