Here's a test for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional body horror, but within Together lies a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars 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. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He dreads the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions after ten years. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
