Moving to a home in the woods is probably not a good idea. Julia Garner did it in “Wolf Man†and ended up with a monster on her hands.
Dave Franco and Alison Brie try it in “Together†and wind up bonded for life.
Both horror films feature insecure relationships and mysterious outside forces.
In “Together,†however, all seems right until the two go on a hiking trip, get lost and wind up spending time in a cave where bells and a mysterious pool of water seem to set things off.
This image released by Neon shows Alison Brie, left, and Dave Franco in a scene from "Together."
Before you know it, the two are stuck together like they’ve fallen in rubber cement. They pry their legs apart but, soon enough, other strange things start happening. A cult apparently lived in the area and strange things happened to those people, too.
Writer/director Michael Shanks spills out just enough information but reminds us how randomly people leave familiar situations to try something new. Even the house they choose should have gone through a bit of inspection before they moved in.
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While she gets settled in her job as a teacher, he wrestles with keeping a music career going so far from the center of activity. The two pursue their work but he’s quickly drawn back. At school, they break a few rules (thus the R rating) and discover they’re truly stuck on one another.
Like “The Substance,†this takes a simple idea and runs with it. Body issues are only part of the problem; “two become one†emerges as more than just a catchphrase.
This image released by Neon shows Alison Brie, left, and Dave Franco in a scene from "Together."
Shanks does a fine job spicing his film with scares. He has a creepy teacher in the neighborhood and an unsolved missing persons’ case that should have been a clue not to move here.
As the two try to figure out what’s happening to their relationship, “Together†gets darker until you’re unsure if it’s safe to go to bed.
Brie and Franco, a couple in real life, have excellent trust skills and put them on full display here. He seems cornered, more than anything, and should have stayed in the city while she got her teaching career going. His horror faces, however, are unmatchable. When he’s scared, you’re scared.
Before they get outside help, the two try to stop the magnetic force between them. Laughs accompany the effort, but they’re merely pauses between jaw-dropping terror sequences.
“Together†rises above most horror filmsÌý— it approaches “Saltburn†and “Get Outâ€Ìý— but doesn’t make you question its characters’ motives, only their choice of homes.
