In “Together,” Thirtysomething couple Tim and Millie keep digging themselves deeper and deeper into a relationship rut, and neither can find a way to crawl out of it.
Often at odds and out of step with the other, the attractive lovers inch toward a do-or-die inevitability, either break it off or just get married already.
Anyone who’s been at that crisis point with a special someone realizes there are only two options here, and it is that precarious relatability that makes you wince and cringe while watching director/screenwriter Michael Shanks’ hyper-smart body-horror feature debut, an unnerving, macabrely hilarious original take on modern love and the ties that both bind and trap us.
As portrayed by a real-life couple — Palo Alto native Dave Franco and Alison Brie — the at-odds duo remain likable even during angry outbursts when they cruelly put each other down with harsh words that bear the taint of truth. Their brittle, sexless relationship gets severely tested when they move to the country where Millie has landed a teaching job. It’s obvious she has been the breadwinner for a long time and has been propping up 37-year-old sad-sack Tim, a musician struggling with low self-esteem and depression and has a jealous streak, too.
Plagued by nightmares and suffering from a “Midsommar”-like trauma, Tim’s primed to unravel, and soon does after he and Millie take a hike and kerplunk into a cave where they get trapped overnight. After they escape, the two become inseparable and painfully drawn to each, though not the healthiest of ways. It gets weirder and more gruesome from there.
Shanks’ premise taps into universal fears but, in the end, he’s uninterested in taking a cynical or dim view of love and companionship. His film isn’t bitter about matters of the heart or intended to be a damning indictment on the hazards of relationships — as is evident by an ingenious closing scene, a perfect capper to the this sly metaphorical-rich genre film.
“Together” owes much of its resounding success to not only Shanks but his two leads. They give two physically impressive performances with Shanks’ screenplay demanding they go through all sorts of contortions. Franco and Brie are really the glue that holds “Together” together.
Contact Randy Myers at [email protected].
‘TOGETHER’
3½ stars out of 4
Rating: R Violent/disturbing content, sexual content, nudity, language, brief drug content
Starring: Dave Franco, Allison Brie
Writer/director: Michael Shanks
Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes
When & where: Opens Aug. 1 in theaters
