Together

While horror is my favorite movie genre, I have my limits. I don't enjoy torture porn. Rape/revenge repulses me to no end. And body horror has never been my thing. I am a firm supporter, however, in Roger Ebert's statement that dismissing an entire genre is mistaking snobbery for taste, and that it's on the viewer to find the exception to the rule. Hellraiser is a distant forebearer to torture porn. I enjoy the Cronenberg remake of The Fly. And now, I can add Together to my short list of body horror movies I enjoy. Still not love, but like. The story is simple: a couple (real life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, playing Tim and Millie) who has been together a while and seems to be drifting apart moves to the middle of nowhere because Millie got a job nearby. After a mysterious encounter in a cave nearby, they start having weird experiences of sticking together and feeling a literal magnetic pull towards each other. Together is one of those movies that could be taken either as a metaphor or at face value. I'm sure some noble scholar has parsed it as a commentary on co-dependency, the struggle between heart and mind, and the "you complete me" mentality in relationships, and that's fine and dandy. That did not cross my mind. I watched it as a movie about two people who find themselves possessed by a force trying to pull their bodies together while their hearts couldn't be further apart. To that end, two out of three acts of this movie were very, very good. The script finds ways to keep escalating the situation and the tension, and casting a real life couple brings a level of authenticity to the chemistry between the characters that can't be manufactured. I did say "two out of three acts", and that's not to say the third act is bad ... but it is underwhelming. Answers are provided, but I found them to be unsatisfying and telegraphed from a mile off. Seriously, the movie all but screams at you that a twist reveal is coming, and once you notice it, you'll be a few frustrating steps ahead of the movie. That twist introduces an antagonist, and if you like things tied up in a bow vis a vis your protag/antag dynamics, be prepared for a disappointment. There are some plot contrivances you'll have to ignore, and the very end raises some serious real-world questions that could have the potential to break you on Together. So, yeah, it's not without its flaws, but it's also carried by the acting and chemistry between Brie and Franco. The special effects are suitably grotesque, and there is a weird sweetness to the movie, in a sick, twisted way. But it may leave you not wanting to snuggle your partner for a day or two.