Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical physical horror, but inside Together lies a intense contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the rural area for her career. A familiar story element, 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 hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and far away from his network of friends. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that come with any relationship after ten years. At their core, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, some couples having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
