Together (2025) Dir: Michael Shanks

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Directed by Michael Shanks, this Neon produced independent horror was one of my most highly anticipated horror films of the year, particularly after I saw the interesting marketing. A host of positive reviews all but guaranteed my place in the cinema on opening night in the UK, and I was very excited to see how the body horror, as well as the apparent comedy aspect, would play out.

Visually speaking, I thought this was a very solid looking film. One scene in particular was very clearly inspired by John Carpenter's 'The Thing', and the film's general familiarity to some of David Cronenberg's various works cannot go unnoticed either. My only slight detractor was that I would have liked to see a lot more practical effects than CGI, but at least the quality of the CGI wasn't bad. The one time that the film did commit fully to practical effects, the aforementioned Thing-esque sequence, it was great.

The film struck the perfect tonal balance between comedy and horror, which kept me engaged by both aspects of the film without it ever becoming jarring. The comedy really worked for me, I found myself laughing aloud several times, and I wasn't the only one. But, just as much, I found myself tensing up, and even jumping a little, at some of the suspenseful and dark horror sequences.

What I wasn't necessarily expecting to appreciate so much was the quality of the narrative. So often it, along with the dialogue, is where horror films tend fall on their own sword, but this was tremendously well-done, and extremely engrossing. The pacing was smooth, the action was interesting, and the characters felt believable. The instant and strong chemistry between the two actors portraying them did wonders too, and should come as no surprise to those who knew that they are married in real life.

Speaking of which, I thought this was Dave Franco's best performance by a country mile. He thoroughly impressed me here, no doubt in part because of how well he worked with his on and off-screen partner. He felt authentic, his comedic moments worked, and he really delivered a lot during his more emotionally charged scenes. I was so impressed by the way he acted out his character's reactions to traumatic events.

Was this my favourite Alison Brie performance as well? It might just have been. She was brilliant - again, it certainly helped that the two actors had such intimate and natural chemistry. I loved how she conveyed her character's dominant position within the on-screen couple's relationship, and how that affected her emotions and decision-making. I should also briefly mention the pair of Damon Herriman and Mia Morrissey, despite the latter's lack of screentime. Both complimented the film nicely, and fit their respective roles exactly as required.

Overall, I think this might end up being my film of the year, which is absurd considering some of the other films I've seen this year. I cannot undersell how much I loved this film. I was expecting to like it, but I honestly adored it. I spent almost the entire time smiling whilst I was watching it - some of that was because of how funny certain parts of the film were, but a lot of it was simply because of how unwaveringly entertaining it was. The whole film was just a thrill.