Interview: ‘Together’ Filmmaker Michael Shanks Chats About His Horror (and Non-Horror) Influences

A horror debut is always something to be excited about. There’s a wonderful combination of necessity being the mother of invention, due usually to budgetary limitations, as well as a creative expulsion on display. It’s as if the filmmaker knows they might only get one crack at this, so they throw as much as they can out at the audience. In the case of Together and Michael Shanks, he’s doing so in such a way that almost assures him of many more films in his future. This movie is one of the better horror works of the year, especially if you like body horror. Recently, I hopped on Zoom with him to discuss it, as well as all sorts of other things. Today, with the flick gearing up for release later on this month, our chat comes your way.

My review will be up at the end of the month, right before release, but Together is really good. It’s exactly the kind of fun yet gnarly horror flick that the summer is made to feature. This is what I said on social media after my press screening earlier this month:

Below, you can hear my conversation with Shanks. He was very generous with his time, so we were able to go off on some fun tangents. Of course, we touch on horror influences, as well as working with Alison Brie and Dave Franco, but we also get into The Simpsons, alongside an amazing needle drop that he chose for the end of the movie (as well as how hard it was to get it). Shanks’ own personal history as influence comes into play, alongside all manner of silly things. It’s a really enjoyable discussion, one that should make you even more excited to see the film. Together shows that he’s got the goods, so I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Here now is my interview with Together writer/director Michael Shanks. Enjoy:

Together is in theaters on July 30th!