We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like typical biological terror, but inside Together exists a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the cliches conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that come with any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your other half and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
