We present a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like typical physical horror, but beneath Together resides a deep meditation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting 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 her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He fears the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, 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 seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. On the other hand, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
