Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like conventional physical horror, but inside Together exists a profound contemplation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his network of friends. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that arise in any relationship over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the metaphor does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
