Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like typical biological terror, but beneath Together lies a deep examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim transition from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He fears the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, 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 codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
