Here's a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like typical biological terror, but beneath Together exists a profound examination about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
