TOGETHER : Tuesday 5th August 2025

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'TOGETHER' this week at my local multiplex, and this Australian and US Co-Produced horror Sci-Fi romance film is from Writer and Director Michael Shanks in his feature film making debut. The film saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Sundance Film Festival in late January this year, went on general release in Canada, the UK, the US, here in Australia and a handful of other territories from last week and for the rest of the world throughout August, September and October. The film has so far grossed US$14M from a production budget of US$7M, and has generated positive critical reviews. 

The film opens with a search party looking for a missing couple Simon and Keri lost it is believed in remote woodland. Two tracker dogs enter an underground cavern and both drink what appears to be fresh water from a well. The owner of the dogs returns them to his house later that evening after the search is called off, locking them inside a pen in the yard for the night. The dogs, sit patiently observing each other. Later that night the owner is woken by strange noises coming from the outdoor pen. He takes a flashlight and investigates what the commotion is all about, only to be horrified by the scene in front of him, as the two dogs have fused together as one. 

We then cut to an apartment in which Millie (Alison Brie) and her long term boyfriend Tim (Dave Franco [real life married couple Franco and Brie who also both Co-Produce here]) are hosting a leaving party with their closest friends as Millie has secured a job in the country teaching elementary school English, while Tim is a struggling musician. At the party, Tim gives a stilted speech after which Millie gets down on one knee and proposes marriage to him, to which he hesitates to reply only embarrassing her. 

Having moved into their new home in an isolated house in the country, the pair one fine day decide to go for an exploratory hike through the woods. However, a rainstorm closes in and the pair quickly become drenched through and lose their bearings. Tim falls into a cave partially concealed by undergrowth and Mille follows. With the rain pouring down they decide to camp inside for the night, and light a fire. Tim drinks from a pool in the cave, says it's fresh water and is good to drink, and fills a water bottle for Millie.

Upon waking up the next morning, Tim and Millie find their legs partially stuck together but dismiss the incident after separating, with Tim saying that it's just mildew. Tim begins to experience episodes where he becomes inexplicably and almost magnetically physically drawn to Millie, confusing and frustrating them both. Millie's coworker from the school, Jamie (Damon Herriman), shows up at their home to welcome them to the neighbourhood, and she invites him in for an impromptu dinner, which Tim cooks because Millie can't. The couple recollect their experience at the cave, which Jamie explains was a New Age church before it caved in some years ago. 

Millie drops Tim off at the train station for a gig, because Tim can't drive and doesn't have a license. She tells him to enjoy his night of freedom and to not worry about coming home, to which he reluctantly agrees. As the train pulls up Tim experiences another episode and drags himself to Millie's workplace, leaving his guitar and his gear on the platform. An outraged Millie confronts him in a boys toilet block whereupon they have sex in a cubicle, after which their genitals become stuck together. After they painfully force themselves to separate, Jamie who by now has entered the boys toilet having been alerted by a young lad, tells Millie to clean herself up as he sees blood running down her leg. As he turns to leave he sees Tim feet as he steps down from the toilet bowl having tried to conceal himself. Millie later visits Jamie's house to apologise. In the ensuing conversation, she begins to open up about some of the problems she and Tim have been facing in their relationship. Jamie relates Plato's theory of the nature and origin of eros and encourages her not to let go of her 'other half', then reminisces on his relationship with his seemingly deceased husband. Millie leaves quickly after spotting a disoriented Tim lurking outside looking in.

Tim visits a doctor, who dismisses his symptoms as panic attacks brought on by a sudden change in their surroundings and their new more relaxed lifestyle. He prescribes Tim muscle relaxant pills before mentioning that a local couple, Simon and Keri, recently went missing in the locale. Using data extracted from their social media photos, Tim discovers that they visited the same cave he and Millie fell into after noticing the same symbols surrounding the cave on their uploaded posts. Tim unsuccessfully tries to convince Millie that the two of them may suffer whatever fate Simon and Keri did. 

That night, Millie suggests to Tim that should sleep in separate bedrooms, but later they are supernaturally drawn together, causing their bodies to contort in unnatural ways until their arms become fused. They manage to prevent further fusion after consuming Tim's pills in a panic before passing out. 

Tim awakens bound to a chair with Gaffer Tape, where Millie saws through their fused limb with a battery powered hand saw. With both their arms heavily bandaged, Millie decides to drive them to the hospital, but realises she had left her keys at Jamie's house. Tim promises to wait for her while she retrieves them, but secretly returns to the cave in an attempt to locate Simon and Keri, and finds them partially fused together as a grotesque humanoid. 

Meanwhile, Millie enters Jamie's house after seemingly finding no one at home, and finds a small TV playing, in what appears to be a walk-in-robe, the wedding tape of two men she does not recognise, and featuring the depiction of a ritual in which the men appear to fuse together. Jamie appears out of the darkness and is revealed to be the result of that fusion. He promises that they are happier after 'becoming whole' and implores Millie to complete the fusion process with Tim. When she resists, he cuts her arm down lengthways the same way his constituents had their arms cut in the tape, before she is able to escape.

Millie reunites with Tim in the driveway of their home. He attempts to commit suicide by slitting his throat to save Millie, despite her pleading with him not to. Her wound from Jamie nearly causes her to fatally bleed out, but Tim saves her by fusing his arm to her wound. Accepting their fate, the two affirm their mutual love, strip down naked and slow dance to '2 Become 1' by Millie's favourite pop group The Spice Girls, embracing as they fuse together into a singular being. That following Sunday Millie's parents arrive as planned for lunch. They clang the door bell with a physical bell retrieved from the cave, and are greeted by a seemingly normal, androgynous person, that is a mix of Millie's and Tim's facial characteristics, who says simply 'Hi!'. 

Here first time feature film Director Michael Shanks has delivered us an impressive debut that is at once darkly humorous, anxiety inducing, and a bold examination of codependency, paranoia and a seemingly unwavering reliance upon the devil you know. Real life partners Dave Franco and Alison Brie prove that they are up for anything as their bodies contort, writhe and ultimately bond together to become one, and their on (and clearly off) set chemistry shines in their performances. This film won't be for everyone, but for fans of body horror, a tight and taught script, and squirm inspiring practical effects, 'Together' is up there as a must see for aficionado's of the genre.

'Together' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE BIKERIDERS : Tuesday 9th July 2024

I saw the M Rated 'THE BIKERIDERS' earlier this week, and this American crime drama offering is Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols whose previous feature films include his debut in 2007 with 'Shotgun Stories' and then 'Take Shelter' in 2011, 'Mud' in 2012, and 'Midnight Special' and 'Loving' both in 2016. This film is inspired by the photo-book of the same name by Danny Lyon, and depicts the lives of the Vandals Motorcycle Club, a fictionalised rendering of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The film saw its World Premiere showcasing at the Telluride Film Festival at the end of August last year and was released Stateside on 21st June having so far grossed US$30M off the back of a US$35M production budget and garnering generally positive critical acclaim.

The film opens up in 1965, Kathy Bauer (Jodie Comer) meets Benny Cross (Austin Butler), a hotheaded member of the Chicago-based Vandals Motorcycle Club, in the clubs local bar, and the pair get married just five weeks later. Photography student Danny Lyon (Mike Faist) travels with, interviews and photographs the Vandals over a number of years. He learns from Kathy, that the founder, Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy), was inspired to form the club after watching Marlon Brando's 1953 film 'The Wild One' on TV. Johnny's leadership is challenged when he rebuffs another Vandal's suggestion that new chapters should be allowed to form. They engage in a fist fight which Johnny wins, and so re-establishes his authority and grants permission to expand the club. New chapters begin to form across the American Midwest.

In 1969, Benny is sat at a bar drinking alone and is approached by two men for wearing his clubs colours. A fight breaks out and the three end up out on the street in an all out brawl with Benny copping a real beating, and his foot is nearly severed by one of the men bringing a shovel down just above the ankle during the fight. Johnny forces the owner to provide the names of the men, and then promptly orders the Vandals to burn down the bar, while they stand and watch while fire crews and the Police maintain a safe distance seemingly too frightened to approach. In hospital with his foot bandaged up, Benny urges Kathy not to allow the doctors to amputate his foot. 

While Benny is recovering from surgery some three weeks later, Johnny pressures him to come to a motorcycle rally before he is fully healed, much to Kathy's chagrin. At the rally, up rides Funny Sonny (Norman Reedus) from the Dead Devil's Club in California and says that he's heard there's a rally going on and so he thought he make the journey and join in. Later that evening Johnny offers Benny leadership of the club when he steps down, but Benny rejects it.

A 20-year-old delinquent known as 'the Kid' (Toby Wallace) asks Johnny to allow him and his own small motorcycle club to join the Vandals. Johnny initially dismisses them saying their all too young, but tests the Kid by allowing only him to join. When he expresses willingness to abandon his four friends, Johnny rejects him, saying that club members never leave their friends behind. The Kid attacks Johnny with a knife, who beats him and warns him not to come back.

Fast forward to 1973, and Lyon interviews Kathy about what became of the Vandals. She explains that Johnny became disheartened after the death of his lieutenant Brucie (Damon Herriman) in a vehicular accident, and the club grew increasingly violent after drug-addled Vietnam War veterans joined the club. At a party, longtime member Cockroach (Emory Cohen) is badly beaten up by new members when he drunkenly expresses a desire to leave the club to become a motorcycle Police Officer. Kathy is nearly raped while Benny is occupied taking Cockroach to the hospital, but she is rescued in time by Johnny. Furious that Benny wasn't at the party to protect her, she demands Benny quit the Vandals. Instead, he leaves her for several days. To allow Cockroach to safely leave the club, Johnny takes Benny to stage a break-in at his house, where they shoot him non-fatally in the leg. Concerned over the escalating violence of the club and again rejecting Johnny's offer of leadership, Benny quits and gets the hell outta Dodge, leaving Kathy high and dry.

The Kid, now a member of the Vandals Milwaukee chapter, challenges Johnny to a knife fight for leadership the next night which Johnny has no option but to accept. Johnny swings by Kathy's house to see if she has heard from or seen Benny, to which she responds in the negative. Johnny goes onto the designated meeting place for the challenge armed with a knife and a knuckle duster only for the Kid to pull out a gun and shoot Johnny dead. Kathy explains to Lyon that after the Kid took over the Vandals, they became a large criminal gang involved in drug trafficking, prostitution and even murder. The older members either toed the line, left to obtain legitimate jobs, or died.

Benny, upon learning of Johnny's death, returns home and breaks down with Kathy consoling him on their front steps. He and Kathy relocate to Florida where Benny works as a mechanic with his cousin and stopped riding motorcycles as soon as Johnny was killed. Kathy tells Lyon that they are happy, and Benny doesn't miss the biker fraternity. Outside, Benny hears motorcycles roaring nearby and flashes a wry smile at his wife.

'The Bikeriders' boasts captivating performances from Comer, Butler (channeling James Dean) and Hardy (channeling Marlon Brandon) and Writer and Director Nichols has here crafted a film that is grounded and convincing in its depiction of late 1960's and early 1970's counter culture, the rebellious and often violent history of motorcycle gangs, and all of the raw emotion and masculinity that lurks just below the surface. 'The Bikeriders' is certainly worth the price of your cinema ticket if your looking for a throwback to a bygone era interlaced with a thumping soundtrack, great cinematography and a solid enough storyline to maintain your interest for its almost two hour running time. The film also stars Michael Shannon and Boyd Holbrook in strong supporting roles.

'The Bikeriders' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE NIGHTINGALE : Tuesday 3rd September 2019.

'THE NIGHTINGALE' which I saw earlier this week, is an MA15+ rated Australian period piece thriller Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Jennifer Kent in only her second film making outing following 2014's highly acclaimed horror offering 'The Babadook'.  This film saw its World Premier screening at the Venice International Film Festival back in September 2018 where it won the Special Jury Prize, had its Australian Premier at the 2018 Adelaide Film Festival, saw its US release earlier in August and in Australia last week after its screening at the recent Sydney Film Festival too. It has so far received generally positive Reviews, although has divided audiences with its graphic depictions of rape and murder. Kent subsequently defended the decision to depict such violence, claiming that the film contains historically accurate representations of the colonial violence and racism that took place against the Australian Indigenous people of that time (circa 1825). The film was produced in collaboration with Tasmanian Aboriginal elders who feel that this is an honest and necessary depiction of their history, and a story that needs to be told.

Set in Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) in 1825 and the early on-set of the Black War, Clare Carroll (Aisling Franciosi), a 21-year-old Irish convict is serving out her time working as a servant in some remote British military outpost overseen by Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) and Sergeant Ruse (Damon Herriman). The unit is being visited by a commanding officer to determine if Hawkins is fit to be considered for promotion to the rank of Captain.

After her night shift has finished, with Clare serving the soldiers drinks and singing them a few songs, she asks Hawkins about her now long overdue letter of recommendation that would allow the family, husband Aidan (Michael Sheasby) and their baby child, their freedom. Hawkins takes her request as insolence and consequently rapes and beats her. The next night Aidan, liquored up, gets into a brawl with Hawkins, Ruse and a Private Jago (Harry Greenwood) while asking for the same letter of recommendation that Clare had enquired about the previous day. The commanding officer walks in on the brawl unfolding and bears witness to the whole sorry affair and determines that this, along with other acts of misconduct and inappropriate behaviour displayed by Hawkins and his small group of soldiers, deem him unfit for promotion.

Mightily pissed-off by this turn of events, Hawkins commands Ruse and Jago to gather supplies, a few extra convict men to help fetch and carry and a local black tracker named Charlie (Charlie Jampijinpa Brown) for an impromptu five day journey on foot through dangerous and near impenetrable bushland to the town of Launceston in order to secure his promotion via an officer contact he has there, and with whom he seems to have some sway. Before they leave early the next morning, the soldiers intercept the Carroll family attempting to flee. Hawkins taunts Aiden about the many occasions he’s had sex with Clare before he and Ruse gang rape Clare, shoot Aiden at point blank range in the neck, and Jago kills their baby and then knocks Clare unconscious with the butt end of his rifle. Clare comes round the next morning with the sight of her dead husband lying in a pool of blood and her baby's lifeless body on the hard stone floor by the door.

The next day Clare reports the incident to a suspicious Royal Military Police official, carrying the dead body of her baby, who is less than sympathetic - after all why should he believe the rantings of a convict woman over the story of Officers in the Army. She decides to seek out revenge for herself with a help of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) whom she entices with the promise of two shillings in payment. Clare is guarded about her motives and states that she wishes to catch-up with her soldier husband en route to Launceston. The travelling pair initially share a mutual hostility towards one another but begin to bond over stories about their tragic upbringings and shared hatred of the English.

Hawkins meanwhile en route with his small party takes a liking to one of the convicts, an eight year old orphan child named Eddie (Charlie Shotwell), and Ruse kidnaps an Aboriginal woman named Lowanna (Magnolia Maymuru) that he stumbled across in the bushland, to be used as a sex slave. The next day when a small group of Aboriginal men have located their missing Lowanna, they kill one of the convicts and injure Jago with a spear in the leg, in a rescue mission, but their attack proves unsuccessful as Hawkins shoots Lowanna in the back in retaliation. Clare and Billy stumble upon a limping and delirious Jago, and Clare corners and brutally kills him by stabbing him several times in the chest and smashing his face to a pulp with the butt-end of her rifle.

Billy has witnessed this and considers leaving Clare to her own devices in the dense forest, but works out her revenge motivations and decides to stay. Charlie meanwhile as the trusted tracker to Hawkins party, and as revenge for the soldiers' inhumanity, diverts the journey to a dead end on the summit of a mountain. Ruse kills Charlie but Hawkins chastises the rash decision and forces Ruse to be their guide on the way back down the mountain, handing over Ruse's former responsibilities to the eight year old Eddie. Clare and Billy come across Charlie’s body while tracing their steps, and Billy performs customary burial rites and informs Clare that he now seeks
revenge too for killing his Uncle figure.

Clare and Billy catch up with the group of four and hide behind a rocky outcrop. Armed with her rifle pointing directly at Hawkins, Clare freezes when she sees him, allowing Hawkins to retaliate fire grazing her shoulder with a shot from his rifle. Clare flees and the pair split up and are separated. Billy, however, is found and forced to be the new guide, replacing Charlie and a clueless Ruse. Billy reluctantly leads the soldiers to the main path to Launceston, at which point Hawkins commands Eddie to shoot Billy. The eight year old Eddie naturally hesitates, so allowing Billy to escape. Hawkins berates Eddie and turns his back on him saying that when he arrives in Launceston he will advise the local Police that there is a convict child running wild on the path into town. Eddie gets very upset by this threat and cries out for a second chance to prove his worth. Hawkins turns and shoots the boy dead to shut him up.

Having spent the night nestled under a tree in the forest hinterland of Launceston, Clare the next morning finds her way back onto the main path and reunites with Billy. While on their way, they come across what looks like an abandoned house. Entering they see a recently murdered couple in their bed having both suffered several gunshot wounds to the chest. From the house they take a rifle, some food and a change of clothes. Walking towards Launceston they encounter a chain gang of Aboriginals, led by three armed white fellas. In their native tongue Billy speaks of his origin and that he is seeking to reunite with his people in the north. One of the chained Aboriginals informs Billy that he is the last of his people, they had been wiped out and all killed. When the prisoner yells at his captors for their callousness, they shoot him and the others dead. Clare and Billy pass, on the pretext that Billy is Clare's prisoner and she is taking him to Launceston to see that justice is served on him.

In Launceston, Clare and Billy are sighted in the street by Hawkins and Ruse. Hawkins orders Ruse to notify the Police that a black boy is on the loose in town, and tells Clare that if he ever sees her again, he will have no hesitation in killing her. The newly promoted Hawkins joins his commanding officer in a men only bar for a welcome drink, at which point Clare bursts in and confronts Hawkins about his war crimes in front of a now silent bar full of fellow soldiers and officers all looking on. Billy watches through the window from a hiding spot. The two then flee town for the night. During the night while Clare is sleeping, Billy covers himself with white war paint and has carved two spears. He makes his way back to Launceston. By this time Clare has woken up and has given chase arriving in Launceston just as she spies Billy entering the hostel where Hawkins and Ruse are lodged. Billy first spears Hawkins right through the heart killing him instantly and then drives his second spear though Ruse's throat pinning him to a wall. Ruse however, before he died got off a single rifle shot wounding Billy in the stomach. Claire and Billy flee the commotion at the hostel on the back of Clare's horse which Hawkins has previously stolen from her. In time following the river, they arrive at a beach where Billy dances and declares himself a free man before slumping down on the wet sand as Clare sings a folk song and the two watch the sun rise over the horizon.

'The Nightingale' is a confronting film and at times an uneasy watch for its repeated rape scenes, violence and callous cold blooded murders of men, women and children mostly of native Australian origin, but also of white convicts for simply speaking up or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, in choosing to depict such scenes of human depravity Director and Writer Jennifer Kent has captured the essence of that era in a story that has to be told as it resonates as much today as it did back then. Aisling Franciosi and Baykali Ganambarr give powerful and convincing performances, and Sam Claflin is definitely playing against type here and does so with a disturbing intensity. It's interesting to note that the depiction of the horrors that befell Australia's Indigenous population back in the days of early white settlement is particularly apposite given last weeks Reviewed 'The Australian Dream'. Kent has here shown that she is an Australian film maker to watch and that this is a very noteworthy follow up to her debut of five years ago, that will further cement her position as a master of her craft. My only criticism is that at a running time of 136 minutes, the film drags on for a little too long and consequently becomes a tad repetitive and predictable especially in the last half an hour, when shaving off 15 or 20 minutes in the editing suite would perhaps have served for greater coherence and less monotony.

'The Nightingale' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard, from a potential five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-