Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like typical biological terror, but within Together resides a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when the couple relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A commonly used story element, of course, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
