We present a dare for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and view Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but inside Together resides a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
