Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional body horror, but inside Together lies a profound contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that come with any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the metaphor never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
