On the opening night at SXSW, I waited in line for two hours to experience a heavily buzzed horror film called Together. Upon its premiere at Sundance this past January, it was quickly picked up by Neon and rapidly selected by the SXSW committee for two screenings at the festival, both of which I was able to attend. A swift blend of body horror and romantic comedy, it is brought to life by a great concept, a surprising amount of laughs, and most importantly, some pretty intense jump scares. During my first viewing, I had a panic attack halfway through the film.
Together stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple who leave the city and move into a remote country home so the latter can take on a job as a teacher. This sparks a poorly masked hesitance from the former, who is still chasing his dreams of being a professional musician. There’s something off about their new abode, specifically a culty presence around the town upon coming into contact with a mysterious underground cavern during a hike, strange things begin to occur. They find themselves getting attached to each other, but not in the figurative sense.Â
It did not take long for me to feel a sense of dread that this experience was not going to be a walk in the park for me. As someone who deals with anxiety, horror films are at their best when they are actually scary and Together delivered in that department.
Sound is such a crucial tool when getting the reaction you want from an audience in this genre and each jumpy moment knew exactly how to utilize sound to make its impact as frightening as possible, even when I sensed something of this sort was going to happen. Needless to say, I was entertained by how scary this film was. It stands as my second favorite film I experienced at SXSW.
The way this explores dependency in relationships and how it utilizes its concept as a metaphor for emotional attachment was swift and clever. But one thing that truly stood out is how stars Franco and Brie were able to use their real-life marriage as a way to build great chemistry with each other on screen. You quickly buy into the relationship between their characters and to many, it may even feel relatable.Â
Final Thoughts
Together is horror with depth, but it does not skimp on all the tropes that make for a great body horror feature. Most importantly, it never feels tired or typical. With the added benefit of equally functioning as a solid comedy, this was a big winner for me at SXSW. I would be intensely frightened, but then I would find myself appropriately laughing. It was a balance of emotions and reactions that I welcomed with open arms, even if I had to do breathing exercises at certain points because of how anxious this experience made me.
4/5
Together will be released in theaters by Neon on August 1.
 For more SXSW 2025 Coverage, click here. To check out more of our reviews, click here. If you have suggestions for movies we should check out, email [email protected]!Â
Adam Khromachou has been a lifelong film watcher. It all began in 1989 at the age of 6
when his mom took him to see Tim Burton’s Batman. From then on, he knew cinema
was his passion. By the age of 8, he was learning about actors, directors, and even
began exploring the history of cinema. At the age of 12, a big turning point occurred
when he watched Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. It was the moment he really started
diving deep into films outside of the action and comedy genre and looked to explore
more classic cinema through breaking down the film’s notable influences. He obtained a
Bachelor's and Master's degree from Arizona State and in 2021, he launched his TikTok
channel Sunset Loner Cinema where he reviews and ranks films, as well as providing
in-depth cinematic retrospectives. His content can also be found on Instagram and
YouTube. He is also an avid user of Letterboxd and considers himself a cinema purist,
believing that films should be experienced in theaters without interruptions or
distractions. His favorite films include Pulp Fiction, GoodFellas, Cinema Paradiso, Jaws,
and The Big Lebsowski. He is also the co-host of the podcast Before We Were
Streaming.