Write a commentIt wasn't until I was a little over 25 that my father told me the story of his courtship of my mother.
It was November of 2008. Around this time, I was hanging out with someone I had feelings for. Let's call her Sheryl for the purposes of this story. Sheryl moved to town to pursue a degree in art at SUNY Oswego. Our mutual friend suggested we get to know one another due to our mutual interests and the fact Sheryl didn't know anyone else in town.
Things went as things typically do. We hit it off, became fast friends and feelings became complicated. I was at an impasse with Sheryl and it began to affect my sleep. I would wake up miserable to find my father watching the news on our kitchen TV.
If I were to start telling stories about my father, this review would take significantly longer to get to the point. He was the type of person that was funny without realizing it. He never tried, but many of his actions and reactions were funny. Back in his time, they'd call him a "character".
He had a specific routine in the morning. He'd get up around 7:30 or 8, do some rudimentary exercises on the living room floor, take my mother to work and then come back to the house to eat breakfast, do dishes and watch Fox News. His breakfast usually consisted of four eggs mixed in a bowl with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and cheese if there was any in the house. He would then microwave it for less than a minute and "eat" it. I put "eat" in quotes because he more drank it than anything else considering the consistency. After he created this unholy concoction, the house, especially the kitchen, would smell like a foot.
This particular morning, I walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter behind him. I peeled a banana, sighing. He sighed himself, grunting as he turned around.
"Out with it. What's wrong," he asked.
"Stuff with Sheryl. I think she likes me but she seems hung up on Julian," I replied.
Julian is also a made-up name for the real person.)
"And who is Julian?"
"Her ex. They broke up before she moved here but she has hopes they'll get back together."
The banana was far from ripe so I was struggling to peel it properly. The universe was having a good laugh about all of this.
My father turned his chair around to face me. He muted the TV. "Did I ever tell you about your mother and The Poor House?"
At the time, I didn't know that The Poor House was the name of a bar. I was half-concerned I was going to hear a story about poverty. Thankfully, I was mistaken.
I shook my head.
My father cleared his throat, as if preparing his closing statement in a court case. "Way back, your mother was dating this guy named Jack. Jack was not a good guy. He was using your mother because she had a nice car and your mother didn't realize this until much much later. Around the time she was getting wise to him, I would see her out bowling. We had friends in common so we would talk. She was really pretty. Still is. But, I knew she had a boyfriend and, y'know, you don't mess with that kind of stuff. Our bowling stuff was always the same day of the week so one night, she told me she'd see me next week. Well, the next bowling night came and I didn't think I should go. I didn't want to give her the wrong impression. She had to make this decision on her own. So, I didn't go. A few days pass and one of our friends saw me. She said, 'Donny, Colleen showed up to bowling and was wearing a brand new dress. She bought it specifically because she thought she was going to see you that night and she was devastated when she didn't see you.' So, I told her, 'I can't mess around with someone that has a boyfriend.' A couple of weeks passed and your mother broke up with Jack. 38 years and three kids later, here we are. You gotta let this Sheryl make up her own mind. Give her some space."
I took this all in, nodding. Then it hit me. "I get what you're saying, Dad. The problem is I'm not the guy that leaves the girl at the bar in this scenario. I'm the girl that bought the new dress."
He shook his head, turning his chair away from me and back towards me. "Well, I don't know what to tell ya."
He unmuted the TV and went back to his eggs of dubious consistency.
This conversation with my father was well before I knew anything about relationship attachment theory. If you haven't watched "Together" yet, I would suggest looking it up. It's actually pretty fascinating and illuminating stuff. A close friend of mine introduced me to it and identified me as having an anxious attachment style. Sheryl was more avoidant. This is possibly the worst match-up considering they are diametrically opposed and typically trigger the other person just by existing.
There is a way that a movie like "Together" could work, but writer/director Shanks doesn't seem to be too concerned with getting to understand the characters all that well. Tim (Franco) wants to be a musician but he often kowtows to his longtime girlfriend, Millie (Brie). They move to the country, go for a hike, get lost and fall into a cave. Then some supernatural stuff happens where they seem to not be able to get away from one another.
This is the type of film where you get the basic idea in the beginning and the movie does nothing to surprise you for the runtime. Everything is pretty predictable and there's nothing that makes much of it very interesting. It definitely is trying very hard to be body horror and there are some relatively effective sequences, but it actually seems pretty tame. Given what the film is about, you'd think there'd be some intense gore. There really isn't and for a body horror movie, you're kinda shooting yourself in the foot.
As with what's been happening with a lot of films lately, none of the characters are likable. And they're not unlikable in an antihero way. They're just rotten and whiny characters. Franco and Brie, a real life married couple, don't put a ton of effort into the roles. The two of them scream and twist about every 15 minutes. It becomes incredibly grating. It's as though they, as well as the director, just believed that because they were already married, they didn't need to work on their chemistry. You're not really rooting for either of them and if the film took a more satirical approach, maybe it would work better.
If you're looking to watch something in the body horror genre, there are plenty of better options. Practically anything directed by David Cronenberg, Stuart Gordon or Brian Yuzna leave something like "Together" in the dust. "Together" desperately wants to be important and effective while never really putting forward an honest effort to craft a reasonably entertaining movie. It doesn't have the strength of its convictions and acts as somewhat of a homogenized version of 80s body horror instead of being successful in its own right.
People who know nothing of the far superior examples in this genre will probably enjoy "Together". For those better acquainted with the genre, it continues the trend of some recent horror films of trying to be about something while forgetting to be scary first and foremost. No relationship is perfect and all need care, consistency and effort. Much like a film.
Relationships and films should have more labor put into them than my father's standard breakfast. When they don't, they turn into a sloppy, smelly mess.
Rating (out of ****): *1/2
"Together" is available to rent or buy on all major streaming platforms. It's also available on Blu-Ray and 4K disc.
Together (2025)
Directed by Michael Shanks
Cast: Dave Franco, Alison Brie, Damon Herriman
Runtime: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated R for violent/disturbing content, sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug content.
