We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like standard body horror, but beneath Together lies a intense meditation about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity begins influencing the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building fright fest, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu as of this moment.
