Here's a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a deep contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an subterranean cavern. 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 far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that come with most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
