Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like conventional body horror, but beneath Together resides a intense contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story begins when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion 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 feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that come with most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer 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 final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped 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 ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
