PLOT: A co-dependent couple (Alison Brie and Dave Franco) relocate to the countryside but discover their devotion to each other may be even more extreme than they thought when their bodies start to merge.

REVIEW: Together rocked the house here at Sundance. Premiering as part of the midnight section, it’s a rock-solid body horror romp that’s further evidence of the genre’s revival and makes an arresting debut for writer-director Michael Shanks. Sporting the kind of electric energy too often missing from horror movies these days, with a propulsive pace and style that reminded me of the best of eighties horror flicks, this will likely be a hot ticket item for any big distributor hitting Park City. Hopefully, anyone who buys it will give it a theatrical run, as it plays like gangbusters with an audience.

In it, Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) are a couple at a crossroads. They’ve been together for a decade and still absolutely love each other, but as the old saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. They haven’t been intimate in months. Tim still holds onto dreams of being a rock star, despite being thirty-five and largely unemployed. At the same time, Millie has a normal job as an elementary school teacher and pushes him to settle down into a life in the countryside away from the city. Not even being able to drive a car, Tim starts to feel like a hostage, while Millie starts to feel like she’s married to an eternal adolescent.

One day, while hiking, they fall into a cave and discover a hidden, subterranean chapel. When they make the mistake of drinking from an underground body of water, they start to find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other’s bodies, and every time they try to separate, their skin doesn’t want to let go.

While Together could have been a quiet, one-location piece, Shanks’s film has an impressive scale, with excellent production design and some truly nifty scares. Some of the best scenes depict Tim and Millie’s bodies uncontrollably contorting as they’re attracted to each other like magnets. They use extreme tactics to separate themselves, which had the audience hooting and hollering.

The casting of real-life couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie is incredibly potent, as their chemistry is so strong. In another, more conventional horror film, the couple would start to hate or turn on each other as the horror gets more extreme. Instead, you never doubt Tim and Millie’s deep love for each other. Anyone who’s ever been in a long-term relationship will relate to the couple’s squabbles, as even in the most loving relationship, the fear of losing your own identity in favour of coupledom is a real thing. Shanks’s movie makes it literal, as their bodies start to become one. Gore hounds will not be disappointed by some of the more nauseating scares, with excellent practical effects and some well-placed jump scares peppered in.

It’s a strong pivot to horror for Franco and Brie, who previously dipped their toe into the genre with The Rental, which Franco directed. They produced this one and seem to have a real love for the genre. What’s refreshing about Together, especially in comparison to more cerebral recent fare, is just how fun it is – which is the aspect that made this feel a little bit like an eighties film. It wants you to have a good time, and the audience I saw this will eat it up. Horror fans are going to have a blast. 

Sundance 2025

GREAT

8

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A seventh season of the anthology series Black Mirror will be making its way to the Netflix streaming service sometime in 2025, and it has been previously revealed that Black Mirror season 7 will consist of six episodes, one of which will be a sequel to the popular season 4 episode USS Callister. Now, an image has made its way online that shows returning USS Callister cast member Cristin Milioti (who was recently seen in The Penguin) in the new episode. You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Created and written by Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror is an anthology series that taps into our collective unease with the modern world, with each stand-alone episode a sharp, suspenseful tale exploring themes of contemporary techno-paranoia leading to an unforgettable – and sometimes unsettling – conclusion. Without questioning it, technology has transformed all aspects of our lives; in every home; on every desk; in every palm – a plasma screen; a monitor; a Smartphone – a Black Mirror reflecting our 21st Century existence back at us.

We have a short synopsis for the USS Callister sequel: “Robert Daly is dead, but for the crew of the USS Callister, their problems are just beginning.“ Directed by Toby Haynes from a script written by William Bridges and Brooker, the season 4 USS Callister episode told the story of a gaming company’s CTO. He is the mastermind behind a popular multiplayer game and has a private copy of it, which he uses to torment his colleagues who fail to show him respect in the office. The episode had a running time of 76 minutes and starred Jesse Plemons, Cristin Milioti, Billy Magnussen, Jimmi Simpson, Michaela Coel, Milanka Brooks, Osy Ikhile, Paul G. Raymond, Hammed Animashaun, Tom Mulheron, and Aaron Paul. Given that several of those actors are named on the season 7 cast list, we probably know which episode they’re appearing in…

Speaking of the cast list, here it is: Awkwafina (Jackpot), Milanka Brooks (Mum and I Don’t Talk Anymore), Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who), Emma Corrin (Deadpool and Wolverine), Patsy Ferran (Firebrand), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Lewis Gribben (Blade Runner 2099), Osy Ikhile (Citadel), Rashida Jones (Sunny), Siena Kelly (Domino Day), Billy Magnussen (Road House), Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean), Cristin Milioti (The Penguin), Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids), Issa Rae (Barbie), Paul G. Raymond (Horrible Histories), Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish), Jimmi Simpson (Westworld), and Harriet Walter (Succession).

Coming our way from the Broke & Bones production company, Black Mirror season 7 is being executive produced by Brooker, Jessica Rhoades, and Annabel Jones.

Are you looking forward to the USS Callister sequel in Black Mirror season 7? Take a look at the image of Cristin Milioti, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Patricia Highsmith wrote 22 novels (plus many short stories) and is best known for her psychological thrillers – including the five-book series that followed the character Tom Ripley, who has been brought to the screen several times over the decades, most recently in a Netflix series called Ripley. Now, Variety has revealed that Highsmith and her Ripley stories are at the center of a thriller called Switzerland, which stars Helen Mirren (1923) as the author and is now filming in Rome, Italy.

Mirren is joined in the cast by Alden Ehrenreich (Oppenheimer) and Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon).

Based on a play by Joanna Murray-Smith, who has also written the screenplay, Switzerland tells a fictional story that sees Mirren playing Highsmith at a time when the aging queen of thrillers is fading away in Switzerland. A young literary agent named Edward (Ehrenreich), tries to coax her out of retirement to pen one last installment of her popular “Ripley” series. It soon becomes clear that the charming agent is on a more sinister mission. As they begin to collaborate on a new “Ripley” plot, the world they live in and the one they are constructing become blurred. Details on the character Cooke is playing have not been revealed.

Anton Corbijn, whose previous credits include Control, A Most Wanted Man, and The American, is directing the film. Gabrielle Tana, Troy Lum, and Andrew Mason are producing for Brouhaha Entertainment; Jim Robison and Kurt Martin for Lunar Pictures; Karl Spoerri for Switzerland’s Zurich Avenue; and Andrea Occhipinti for Italy’s Lucky Red. FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales. The Italian line producer is Enrico Ballarin.

If you’re wondering why a project called Switzerland isn’t filming in Switzerland, rest assured, it will get there. Filming is set to take place in Rome until mid-February, at which time it will be moving on to Italy’s Alpine Alto Adige-South Tyrol area, then to Switzerland and London as well.

I have always been interested in the Ripley stories, so I’m intrigued to see how this story that involves the writing of Ripley plays out.

Does Switzerland sound interesting to you? Share your thoughts on this Helen Mirren / Patricia Highsmith thriller by leaving a comment below.

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Marvel Rivals has been given a lot of shit for its unapologetic poaching of Overwatch’s ideas. From the overall format down to individual hero’s kits, NetEase copiedBlizzard’s homework and didn’t try to change it much. That being said, it’s nice that Overwatch 2 has a direct competitor to put its feet to the fire, and…

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PLOT: Two best friends (Olivia Taylor Dudley and Jordan Gavaris) encounter a tracksuit-wearing alien (Lou Taylor Pucci) whose touch is so powerful that it can relieve past trauma…for a while anyway. 

REVIEW: Every year at Sundance, there’s a movie that I see that – for some reason or another – just isn’t for me, even though I can tell there’s definitely an appreciative audience out there for it. Last year, it was I Saw the TV Glow (which became a breakout hit) and this year it’s Touch Me. Despite the low-budget and deliberately campy aesthetic, this blend of sci-fi/ horror and comedy should earn plenty of fans. However, I must admit I’m not one even if there are things about it I can appreciate. This is one of those movies where the phrase “it wasn’t for me” would suffice. 

Olivia Taylor Dudley and Jordan Gavaris play Joey and Craig two co-dependent best friends – she’s straight, he’s gay, and neither quite has their shit together. He lives on a trust fund that’s paying for some past misdeeds done by his family while she’s in withdrawal from a relationship that ended with Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci), who she says was an alien whose touch was like heroin. Despite it ending traumatically, when Brian resurfaces and invites her away for the weekend, it doesn’t take much convincing for her to agree and bring Craig along for support. Soon, they both become hopelessly addicted to his touch, even once they discover that – well – he just might be trying to take over the planet.

Despite the sci-fi trappings, the heart of the film is the co-dependent relationship between Joey and Craig, which is a shame as it’s the least interesting aspect of the film. Once both Craig and Joey enter into a sexual relationship with Brian, that becomes as pivotal as the fact that Brian’s a remorseless killer who might want to colonize the planet. 

The folks that will most likely get the most out of this are hentai fans, with the film going to great lengths to depict live-action sex scenes that seem lifted from the kinds of manga you could only buy in certain comic shops. The cast is solid, with Olivia Taylor Dudley starting the film with a terrific monologue about her last encounter with Brian. However, Gavaris’s semi-comic role as Craig is more conventional and less thought out. Of them all, Lou Taylor Pucci gives the most memorable performance as the otherworldly Brian, who’s like a perverted, evil Starman, while Marlene Forte plays his live-in assistant, who acts almost like his familiar, were he a vampire.

Touch Me spins its wheels with a lot of icky creature effects that, despite being lo-fi, are effective, even if you start to lose interest in the plight of Joey and Craig, who turn out to be backstabbing junkies once they get addicted to Brian’s touch. The movie makes the point that, perhaps, the thing they’re really addicted to is each other, but it’s all done in a way that doesn’t feel particularly innovative at a place like Sundance, which has premiered some cutting-edge stuff. Touch Me is provocative but dull, with it ultimately sidelining a good sci-fi story for an overly familiar gay man/ straight woman friendship story that’s been done better elsewhere. 

Lou Taylor Pucci

BELOW AVERAGE

5

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Now in its ninth year, the overwhelmingly expansive sci-fi survival sim No Man’s Sky is transforming yet again. Another massive overhaul to the look and feel of its planets and solar systems has arrived in the form of the new Worlds Part II update. It’s the latest evolution of the game thanks to Hello Games’ ongoing…

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The second trailer for horror movieSinners has dropped, and it’s a juicy, detailed and thrilling three minutes. Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther, helms a period horror movie that stars Michael B. Jordan and Michael B. Jordan as twin brothers, attempting to put their lives back together by returning to their…

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PLOT: A retail employee (Théodore Pellerin) worms his way into the inner circle of a rising pop star, Oliver (Archie Madekwe) and will do whatever he needs to in order to stay there.

REVIEW: Lurker is exactly the kind of movie I want to see when I hit Sundance. I went in knowing next to nothing about it other than the fact that some folks involved with The Bear had a hand in it. Days before its premiere, it screened for many of the Sundance volunteers, which is usually something they do when they know they have a real winner on their hands.

Sure enough, Lurker is a terrific blend of black comedy and psychological thriller, with it playing out as almost an evil, demented version of Almost Famous. Like that Cameron Crowe classic, this follows the entree of a young man into the inner circle of pop stars, although Théodore Pellerin’s Matthew is far from a wide-eyed innocent. The movie begins with Oliver entering into the trendy boutique Matthew works at, allowing the latter to perfectly insinuate himself by using reverse psychology. You almost root for Matthew, with him sharp-witted, funny and initially gregarious. At the same time, Archie Madekwe’s Oliver is charismatic as the pop star on the verge of a breakthrough. He surrounds himself with sycophants but says he wants someone “real” in the inner circle.

Once Oliver’s fickle affections start to wander, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what will happen to Matthew’s mental state. Still, Lurker consistently pivots anytime it threatens to be conventional or predictable. Writer-director Alex Russell, who also worked as a writer and director on The Bear and Beef, has made a phenomenally entertaining first feature, with this one of the most memorable Sundance debuts since Whiplash. Expertly assembled, it seems likely to spark a bidding war, with it the kind of movie that could readily crossover to a mainstream audience if handled appropriately.

Théodore Pellerin is reminiscent of a young Anthony Perkins in how he’s able to juggle a sweet-natured, boy-next-door kind of vibe with a barely suppressed sociopathic side, making him one of the most memorable screen psychos in recent memory. Archie Madekwe also gets another impressive role after his turns in Gran Turismo and Saltburn, as the hyper-macho Oliver, whose performative side hides a vulnerability he feels the need to suppress. They’re well supported by Havana Rose Liu as Oliver’s assistant and stand-up comic Zack Fox as the head of his entourage. 

Russell’s sense of pace is pitch-perfect, with the 100-minute running time quite disciplined, and the film has the same kind of propulsive energy the best episodes of The Bear have. One thing that will get people talking is how the film depicts the shifting power dynamic between Oliver and Matthew, with it reminding me at times of this great Joseph Losey movie from the sixties, The Servant, which was about a parasitic butler who slowly took over his employer’s life. Lurker plays with the same formula but gives it a contemporary flavour. It’s the kind of movie I come to Sundance hoping to find, and a film I think is going to connect with a lot of our readers once it comes out. 

Sundance 2025

AMAZING

9

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Is Will Ferrell too sexy for his cowbell? Too sexy for his elf costume? Too sexy for his streaking? He doesn’t think so! When it was announced that John Krasinski had been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive, we all kind of either thought, “Oh, yeah, sure,” or, “That’s still a thing?!” But Will Ferrell was a little more miffed — at least jokingly so — that he was never even considered.

As he revealed on Today (via People themselves), Will Ferrell said his campaign on that show led to zero support, adding that he doesn’t “get” the sex appeal of John Krasinski. But he’s going to work the same butt we saw in Old School off so he can at least have a decent shot this year. “I think I may need to do a preemptive photoshoot…pay for some billboards around LA and New York. Influencers, get it going that way.” Might be a good idea, Will: schedule some expensive sessions, show off that Gene Frankle gut, you might actually have it in the bag!

Will Ferrell was actually hitting the People’s Sexiest Man Alive circuit pretty hard last year, turning up on late night shows and the like to declare that comedians should be considered attractive, too. Unfortunately, I think the “dad bod” craze may have come and gone. But if he were to win at age 58 (which he’ll be by the time the recipient is named), he would be be the second-oldest ever, trailing only Sean Connery, who was 59 back in 1989. (He would still edge out Harrison Ford, Patrick Dempsey, Paul Rudd, Nick Nolte, and Richard Gere as far as people in their 50s go. He would also be the first Saturday Night Live alum to take the crown, although we could have swore Joe Piscopo had already won…

Will Ferrell may never be People’s Sexiest Man Alive but he still has plenty elsewhere to keep him busy, with his upcoming rom com with Reese Witherspoon, You’re Cordially Invited, set to debut on Amazon Prime Video on January 30th.

What do you think is the funniest performance of Will Ferrell’s? Did he peak on SNL or did his movies let him shine?

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