We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story begins when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He fears the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple confront the sort of issues that come with most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
