BY DESIGN, BODY horror is a genre that’s hard to stomach. It trades jump scares for lengthy exposure to imagery that gets stuck in both your mind and gut. These depictions of the degeneration or mutilation of the body offer embodied critiques of societal problems, like unrealistic beauty standards (The Substance) or online surveillance (Possessor), or, as is the case in Michael Shanks’ forthcoming film, Together, dysfunctional romance.
One moment in particular sticks out. In a scene from the first half of the film, we watch Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) kiss tenderly. But as the kiss ends, the couple finds that their lips have fused together. While Together features many gruesome scenes of Millie and Tim testing the adage of “till death do us part,” Shanks’ film has more on its mind than just grossing you out; it explores the dual discomforts of romantic complacency and romantic codependency.
Tim and Millie move to the remote countryside for Millie’s job at a small school. Tim, a musician, has felt creatively stuck and emotionally hollow. And while Millie is hopeful that the move might be a fresh start for their relationship, the transition is looking more like a continuation of moorage. Franco and Brie — who are married in real life — distinctively capture the complacency that can come in a long-term relationship.
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