In a Variety exclusive, the team behind Together has hit back at a plagiarism lawsuit, labelling the claims ‘baseless’ and insisting the two films in question are ‘not remotely similar.’
The Dave Franco and Alison Brie-led film was directed by Australian Michael Shanks, and it recently sold to Neon for a reported USD $17 million following its Sundance premiere (Kismet is handling Australian distribution).
The plot of Together and indie film Better Half were allegedly similar enough to launch a lawsuit earlier this year.
That lawsuit, filed in May by the producers of Better Half, alleges that Together is a ‘blatant ripoff’ of their 2023 indie feature, which was reportedly offered to Brie and Franco via their agent at WME in 2020 – and rejected.
Both films centre on a couple who become mysteriously stuck to one another through an unexplained force, but the similarities end there, according to Together’s legal team.
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In a letter obtained by Variety, lawyer Nicolas Jampol argued the films differ in tone and genre, asserting that Better Half is ‘light and comedic,’ while Together leans into ‘supernatural body horror.’ He also dismissed the central concept as unprotectable under copyright law.
‘Your client does not own this concept,’ Jampol wrote to the plaintiffs’ legal representatives. ‘Neither do our clients. It is an unprotectable idea, one that predates all of our clients and has been explored in many films, television shows and other fictional works.’
Significantly, Jampol also noted that Together’s screenwriter, Michael Shanks (a known figure in Australia’s genre and comedy scenes), had registered a script draft with the Writers Guild of America back in 2019 – a full year before the plaintiffs claim their project was submitted to Brie and Franco’s reps.
‘The simple truth is that none of our clients copied a thing from Better Half,’ he wrote.
Despite this, the plaintiffs – writer-director Patrick Henry Phelan and producers Jess Jacklin and Charles Beale – claim that Together copies not just the premise, but ‘virtually every unique aspect’ of their original script, including specific scenes, character dynamics and even references to the Spice Girls and Plato’s Symposium.
One particularly pointed allegation involves a sequence in which the central couple, fused at the genitals, must hide from a romantic rival in a bathroom – a scene the plaintiffs argue appears almost identically in both films.
Attorney Daniel Miller, representing the plaintiffs, said in a June 9 response that the defendants were ‘doing their very best to explain away the unexplainable.’ He accused the Together team of refusing to produce the 2019 script registration they claim proves independent creation.
‘We are confident a jury will see this sequence for what it is: a replication of Better Half’s original expression,’ Miller said, adding, ‘The evidence speaks for itself.’
Jampol, in turn, called for the lawsuit to be dropped, warning that if the case proceeds, the defendants would pursue legal costs.
He concluded: ‘Accusing people of copyright infringement – especially ones who have dedicated their lives to creating original works and performances – should not be done lightly.’
While both films share the unusual premise of involuntary intimacy, the legal back-and-forth now hinges on whether Together simply mirrors a well-worn trope, or whether it crosses the line into derivative copying.
Representatives for Brie, Franco, Shanks, WME and Neon all declined to comment to Variety’s reporters.
