Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical biological terror, but inside Together resides a intense contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar story element, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that come with long-term unions after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
