{"id":1996046,"date":"2025-09-04T03:47:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T03:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=1996046"},"modified":"2025-09-04T03:47:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T03:47:39","slug":"only-one-side-of-this-horror-comedy-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/only-one-side-of-this-horror-comedy-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Only One Side Of This Horror\/Comedy Works"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Together<\/em> is the kind of movie I always want to have on my radar: a non-IP horror movie with a strong hook of a premise that has some decent money behind it. A couple starts fusing together into a single fleshy entity? Sign me up! That kind of surreal body horror idea is always going to pop me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">However, there is a pervasive thought I\u2019m experiencing a lot with horror movies of late and <em>Together<\/em> fell into this category: \u201cThis would work better as a short film or episode of an anthology.\u201d Now, considering some controversy surrounding <em>Together<\/em> and a legal case involving allegations of plagiarism from a short film, that thought is an even darker cloud for this particular movie. That said, I don\u2019t have a short film or episode to review. I have a full feature-length story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">And as far as that goes for <em>Together<\/em>? Let\u2019s see if we can pry these congealed thoughts apart into something separate.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\"><strong>A Straightforward (If Simplistic) Story<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>Together<\/em> is the feature writing and directing debut for filmmaker Michael Shanks. As such, I want to give him a lot of slack as a writer. The script for <em>Together<\/em> is by no means bad. Instead, it\u2019s mostly simple and well-worn tropes that don\u2019t leave much to the imagination. Granted, Shanks as a director is much more adept at nailing the horror of it all than the particular absurdity that comes along with an idea like this.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As it lays, <em>Together<\/em> doesn\u2019t offer much surprising beyond the shock of its selling point. Events play out at a decent pace and the rhythm of everything is solid, but to such a degree that it starts to come off as coldly mechanical by the time the final act is promising true chaos. For as bonkers as the idea is, the story\u2019s final big beats don\u2019t take the stakes to unexpected heights. It\u2019s like watching a wind-up toy dutifully march its way across a table where you know it\u2019s going to fall off the edge. It\u2019s not traversing a creative obstacle course or going to surprise you by rocketing into the living room with a hidden jetpack. You set that toy up to fall off an edge along a straight path. That\u2019s the story of <em>Together<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\"><strong>Solid Horror, Misfire Comedy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/O62sdazp1tHeqkA5G843RA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/giant_freakin_robot_articles_628\/b2eb18e5279dbc661a4558164fd9a4f8\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Like I mentioned, Michael Shanks does an impressive job with the horror side of <em>Together<\/em>. There are a few knockout nightmare sequences that I won\u2019t be forgetting any time soon, and anytime the movie wants to go for the throat, it succeeds. The issue comes with this attempting levels of comedy. Dave Franco and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.giantfreakinrobot.com\/topic\/Alison-Brie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Alison Brie;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\">Alison Brie<\/a> are storied comedic talents, so it stands to reason that I don\u2019t blame them for not being able to sell the sense of humor from the page. Outside of a single shot whose concept alone is inescapably funny, I just don\u2019t think the script or the filmmaking are ever on the right wavelength for comedy. The attempts are there and clear \u2014 heck, the very premise alone is ripe for jokes \u2014 but nothing outside of that one shot ever got a laugh out of me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The majority of this review is going to make it seem like I hated <em>Together<\/em>. I didn\u2019t! In fact, it made <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/boxd.it\/DQAre\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:my list of Notable Cinema;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">my list of Notable Cinema<\/a> but is on the lower end of the ranking. This is a solid first feature that shows real promise from a director, and it will probably enrapture twisted viewers who haven\u2019t been exposed to so many stories like this. In my book, this is a fine little diddy that I wish had more surprises in store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Together is the kind of movie I always want to have on my radar: a non-IP horror movie with a strong hook of a premise that has some decent money behind it. A couple starts fusing together into a single fleshy entity? Sign me up! That kind of surreal body horror idea is always going [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1996047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[361704,321792,342133],"class_list":["post-1996046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-decent-money","tag-horror-movie","tag-michael-shanks"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Only-One-Side-Of-This-HorrorComedy-Works.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1996046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1996046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1996047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1996046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1996046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1996046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}