Consider this a test for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like typical biological terror, but within Together resides a intense examination about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple move from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that come with most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they still love each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
