Becca Kozak’s ‘Sugar Rot’ Oozes Sweetness and Gore Galore into Fantasia Pageant [Movie Review]

With a title as deceptively heat as Collectively, you may count on a quiet relationship drama or a young romantic comedy. Nonetheless, first-time characteristic filmmaker Michael Shanks rips that assumption to shreds throughout the opening minutes, setting the tone for one of many boldest and most creative horror movies of the yr. Making a particular advance screening look at Fantasia with its Canadian premiere forward of its official launch on July 30, this grotesque and deeply unsettling debut proves that Shanks isn’t simply dipping his toes into horror—he’s cannonballing straight into the darkest, slimiest, and most twisted depths of the style.

Tim (Dave Franco – Heat Our bodies (2013), Fright Night time (2011)), a 35-year-old aspiring musician, and Millie (Alison Brie – The Rental (2020), Scream 4 (2011)), a trainer who has simply accepted a brand new job, resolve to relocate deep into the woods—removed from their household, pals, and metropolis life. Their relationship is on shaky floor, and this distant new starting appears like a last-ditch effort to reconnect. After an unlucky accident on a weekend mountaineering journey, they return dwelling carrying one thing inside them that’s pulling them collectively. Actually. In any case, they needed to develop nearer… no?

Shanks’ course is an exhilarating mix of horror craftsmanship, darkish comedy, and deeply disturbing visible storytelling. His pacing is relentless, the strain builds with out ever deflating, and the soar scares—once they arrive—land with influence. It’s his aptitude for physique horror, paying homage to Cronenberg and Yuzna, that really elevates the movie. At instances grotesque, typically stunning, and at all times unique, Collectively delivers a visceral expertise. Shanks is aware of precisely methods to tilt a scene from unsettling to absurd and again once more, making a horror tone that’s as unpredictable as it’s unforgettable. In a panorama choked with sequels, remakes, and recycled concepts, Collectively appears like a blast of grotesque, good contemporary air.

Dave Franco and Alison Brie, real-life companions since 2012 and married in 2023, deliver unbelievable authenticity to their roles, anchoring the movie’s wilder moments. Their chemistry crackles onscreen, evoking the identical pure rhythm seen in real-life display {couples} like John Krasinski and Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place (2018). The emotional vary they show is spectacular—from the strained silences of a faltering relationship to uncooked vulnerability, explosive arguments, determined lust, and terror-stricken survival. They’re humorous, damaged, frightened, and fierce—typically all in the identical scene. Damon Herriman (Run Rabbit Run (2023), 100 Bloody Acres (2012), and The Nightingale (2018)) provides one other unbelievable efficiency in a supporting position, portraying Millie’s educating colleague. However make no mistake: that is Franco and Brie’s movie, they usually carry it with absolute conviction.

There isn’t a uninteresting second—from the eerie opening, which supplies off intimidating The Factor (1982) vibes, to the stomach-churning climax. The visible results are a standout, seamlessly mixing sensible work with spectacular CGI to ship moments of grotesque intimacy and unforgettable physique horror. The make-up, sound design, and cinematography work in good unison to create scenes that will probably be burned into your thoughts, haunting you lengthy after the credit roll. A number of sequences are so uniquely revolting and intelligent that they’ll be talked about lengthy after 2025 is over.

Shanks additionally demonstrates a effective sense of when to inject darkish humor. Simply whenever you suppose the movie has gone too far into despair or revulsion, a well-timed little bit of comedy yanks the viewers again—solely to ship them plunging into horror once more moments later. It’s a rollercoaster experience of gruesomeness and extra—and it really works.

“Collectively” is likely one of the yr’s standout horror experiences: good, sickening, and unflinchingly unique. Michael Shanks proves himself not only a promising new voice in horror, however one able to problem the style’s boundaries with imaginative and prescient and guts. Backed by phenomenal lead performances and unforgettable visuals, this can be a uncommon movie that horrifies and entertains in equal measure. Simply one of many prime horror movies of 2025—and a debut that calls for your consideration—it receives 4 eyes out of 5.