Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like conventional body horror, but within Together exists a deep meditation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, blending elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that come with most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
