Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound examination about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that come with any relationship over a long period. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
