Together (what to expect)
Scorecard, Temp These Takes, Watchlist Worthy, ICYMI Pod
The producers tried to bully Kelly and Eric into providing a Together-inspired selfie for the newsletter, but they chickened out. So, if you go see it this weekend, send us a selfie of you and your special someone doing your best Dave Franco and Alison Brie impression (keep it PG, of course 😅).
Here’s what we have for you this week:
Concession Stand Scorecard: Together
Temp These Takes: Movie-Induced Phobias
Watchlist Worthy: I’m not a twin but I’m ready to cry
ICYMI: Talking Dune Pt. 1 & 2
This week’s movie - Together
Letterboxd Description:
Join us.
With a move to the countryside already testing the limits of a couple’s relationship, a supernatural encounter begins an extreme transformation of their love, their lives, and their flesh.
Best Watched With
Horror fans, comedy fans, romcom fans, and everyone in between. But mainly horror fans.
End credit thoughts
2025 is an absolute blast for horror fans, with more still to come, but this week we were blessed with Together, an unsettling, heartfelt (okay, maybe not so much), and surprisingly funny film. This movie will have your skin crawling for more reasons than one.
Starring real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie, Together begins as an intimate relationship drama. Years into their partnership, Tim and Millie leave city life behind for a quieter, simpler existence in the countryside. But what starts as a domestic reset quickly spirals into something far darker, thanks to a mysterious force lurking just beyond the trees and eventually, under their skin.
The chemistry between Brie and Franco is awesome, and it definitely elevates the film beyond its body horror offerings. Their performances carry the emotional weight of the story, grounding it in something authentic even when it gets nasty. The images on screen are disturbing, and at times almost unbearable to watch, but in the best way possible.
Together isn’t all dread and doom. The script finds some nice, unexpected moments filled with comedic beats that land without undermining the tension. It’s this balance between gore, relationships, love, and dread that makes the film stand out.
Visually, the film doesn’t pull any punches (sorry, squeamish friends). Some of the imagery lingers long after the credits roll, and not just because of the body horror. Like Sierra Cantabria’s 2019 Finca El Bosque Rioja from Spain with a medium-rare ribeye, the visuals pair perfectly with the sound design. The sound of bones bends and breaking laid over the hard-to-forget, disturbing images heightened the horror and intensified the humor.
The lore is light but effective. We’re given just enough to understand what might be happening without over-explaining or bogging down the mystery. Is it a relationship drama? A horror film? A black comedy? Somehow, Together is all three, and it works.
Check it out in theaters for the full experience: the sound design, the bleak beauty (questionable to use the word beauty here, for some), and the lasting horror all deserve a big screen.
It’s a trip worth taking!
Follow us on Letterboxd for our individual movie ratings:
@justjoshperez
@ericharrison
@kellyharrison
@newmexicodrew
What is a phobia of yours that has hit the big screen and traumatized you?
New Mexico Drew
I am what some people would call claustrophobic. I am not a small human, and I don’t belong in any space where both of my shoulders are touching walls at the same time. Watching The Descent (2005) was an hour and a half panic attack. The little weird hillbilly creatures? Might as well have been cute fluffy bunnies compared to the tiny caves those women shimmied through. Fuck that.
Eric
I think I’ve used this movie for another take BUT. Stay Alive really got me.
Growing up I had this fear that I would die in real life in ways I died in video games or in movies I watched. Like somehow the Covenant from Halo would find me in real life, or I would get thrown off a cliff by my brother Scar (Vince). So when this movie came out it validated those fears.
Josh
The open sea, lakes, and camping or cabining in the middle of the woods. After watching those movies with obnoxiously enlarged animals hunting down and killing humans—Anaconda (1997), Deep Blue Sea (1999), Lake Placid (1999)—developed a fear of what lies beneath the surface of bodies of water. Oceans? No thank you. Lakes? There could be crocodiles. Rivers? Definitely the home of 50 foot boas. The sub-zero chilling line in the movie The Strangers (2008) “Because you were home” annihilated my desire to vacation in remote houses in any none to low populated cities.
Twinless by James Sweeney
Josh has been raving about this movie since it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. As a rule, I ignore Josh and usually act like I don’t like what he’s most excited about. Twinless is pure Josh catnip. A great soundtrack, writer/director/lead actor, Dylan O’Brien in general, and an entire movie based on trauma bonding. As much as it kills me to admit publicly, this movie looks amazing and I’m ready to be hurt by it.
-NMD
Letterboxd Description:
Roman returns to his hometown for the funeral of his identical twin, Rocky. Rocky was extroverted, intelligent, gay, and adored by many – Roman’s exact opposite. Untethered from his other half, Roman finds support in the form of a twin bereavement group. It’s here that he sparks an instant connection with Dennis, who reminds him of his late brother. A friendship for the ages, the chemistry between Dennis and Roman has an almost too familial quality to it.
Also Directed by James Sweeney:
Straight Up (2019)
The First (2011)
In Case You Missed It:
Tune in next week for | Weapons
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