Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical biological terror, but beneath Together exists a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their characters, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He fears the concept of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
