We present a test for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard body horror, but beneath Together lies a intense examination about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when the couple transition from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple confront the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
