Dave Franco and Alison Brie have struck gold with their latest venture, the horror film Together, which boasts an impressive 90% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet this success story comes with a twist—the Neon-distributed film finds itself caught in the crosshairs of a contentious legal battle. The premise? A married couple becomes mysteriously fused together, creating a visceral metaphor for their relationship’s complexities.
What Makes This Film Click with Critics
Together puts real-life spouses Alison Brie and Dave Franco through an extraordinary ordeal: their characters’ bodies literally merge after a heated argument. This bizarre supernatural event becomes the catalyst for examining the deeper cracks in their marriage. The film has resonated with both critics and moviegoers, who’ve embraced its bold approach to blending horror with relationship drama. The horror-romance hybrid has carved out its own niche, standing apart from typical genre offerings.
The Copyright Storm Brewing
But success breeds controversy. Patrick Henry Phelan, the mind behind the 2023 indie film Better Half, has launched a copyright infringement lawsuit that threatens to overshadow the film’s achievements. His movie explores strikingly similar territory—two people wake up physically connected after a casual encounter, their predicament serving as a metaphor for codependency issues.
The lawsuit paints a picture of alleged creative theft, claiming Together lifted essential elements from Better Half: plot structure, character development, dialogue patterns, atmospheric tone, pacing choices, and narrative sequences. According to court documents, Better Half was originally pitched to Franco and Brie as potential leads. When they passed on the project, the suit alleges they used their William Morris Endeavor connections to develop something remarkably similar.
The legal filing pulls no punches:
“Together is a blatant rip-off of Better Half. Both works center around a couple who wake up to find their bodies physically fused together as a metaphor for codependency.”
The Defense Fights Back
Director Michael Shanks and his team aren’t backing down from these accusations. Shanks has presented a timeline that predates the alleged copying, revealing he finished Together’s first draft back in 2019 and properly registered it with the Writers Guild of America that same year. His account shows development funding arriving in 2020, followed by his collaboration with Dave Franco beginning in 2022 through a WME introduction.
Shanks recalls their initial meeting with evident fondness:
“From our very first meeting, we bonded over our love of horror, and I pitched him ‘Together’ — a script I had been trying to get into production for years, with no luck.”
While the legal machinery grinds on, the film keeps drawing audiences to theaters, proving that controversy doesn’t always kill commercial appeal.
Catch It While You Can
Together made its theatrical debut on July 30, 2025, and remains available in select theaters nationwide. For those curious about Franco and Brie’s take on this unconventional horror-relationship mashup, now’s the time to experience what has critics and audiences talking—legal drama and all.
