Together: An Intriguing Idea Hindered by Poor Execution (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Body horror has always been a rather strange little sub-genre, one that has been used to great effect in the past, most notably by filmmaker David Cronenberg in projects like "The Fly," "Videodrome," and "The Brood," but one that can also go awry if a film's story isn't quite up to a certain level of quality. Now writer/director Michael Shanks looks to throw his hat in the ring by using it for his feature debut "Together," in which a couple going through a bit of a rough patch finds themselves in a nightmarish situation. Will he be able to use it nearly as effectively as Cronenberg, or will his debut see him stumbling a bit as he attempts his first feature?

The film focuses on Millie Wilson (Alison Brie) and her boyfriend Tim Brassington (Dave Franco), an aspiring musician, with the former recently accepting a teaching position that has them moving out to the countryside. They've been having some difficulty lately not only with Tim trying to get over the death of his parents, but also due to his hesitation to give an answer after Millie proposed at their going-away party. While hiking near their home, the two fall into an underground cave during a storm, where Tim drinks from a pool of what he assumes is water during their overnight stay. The next morning, they find their legs stuck together, which they're able to separate after some difficulty. However, Tim soon finds himself quite drawn to Millie in a way he's never felt before, which, as we soon find out, leads them both into a rather terrifying situation.

With "Together," it would appear that Shanks' aim was to try and give us a strange blend of relationship drama & the aforementioned body horror, a combination that he's at least partially successful at delivering. The performances from Brie & Franco are quite compelling, and made even more so by the fact that they are a married couple in real life, so their attraction is felt quite strongly & genuinely as they go through this terrible ordeal together.

The trouble lies more so in the execution of the film's semi-intriguing idea, which is one that could be rather engaging in the hands of a skilled writer, but sadly Shanks just doesn't really seem to know what to do with it. This ends up leading to a film that feels like it's just kind of plodding along as he tries to develop it and use it effectively, which, again, he is successful in part, but it soon becomes clear that there just isn't much to it, made even more so by how it falls back on a rather unfortunate cliche that has been used far too much in horror films in the last few years.

That said, the makeup effects are rather impressive, which one would certainly hope they would be for a film like this. They are gruesome and disturbing as they should be, giving one the distinct feeling that this was really the main point of making the film. That is, as a vessel for shock value & gratuitousness' sake, given the somewhat lack of substance in its main narrative that places a heavy emphasis on their situation as opposed to developing the characters and their relationship further to the point of truly caring about them.

Overall, the idea at the core of "Together" was certainly an interesting one, it just needed further development in some areas to make it as effective as Shanks wanted it to be. He has a nightmarish situation for the couple to go through, the incredible makeup effects to make it believable, and two actors who are up to the difficult challenge, but his writing is just too weak to make it all come together as well as it could, ultimately leaving us with another idea that had a fair amount of potential within, but sadly one that the writer just couldn't tap into effectively enough.

Video/Audio:

"Together" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The picture is perfectly clear & sharp throughout the film's entire 102-minute duration, even during its darkest scenes. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, NEON has done a marvelous job in both departments for the film's Blu-ray debut.

Special Features:

Interview with Writer/Director Michael Shanks (5 Minutes)

Interview with Alison Brie & Dave Franco (6 Minutes)

Alison Brie & Dave Franco's Codependency Quiz (1 Minute)

Conclusion:

Michael Shanks' "Together" has a semi-intriguing idea at its core, as well as impressive makeup effects & strong performances from its two talented leads, but thanks to weak writing that emphasizes the couples' peculiar situation over the development of its more important elements, it sadly falls short in its execution of the idea, ultimately making it far less effective than it could have been.

Score: 2.5/5

Now available on Blu-ray.

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