Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like standard body horror, but beneath Together exists a deep examination about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a methodically building fright fest, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. 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 avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt 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 a partner, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
