Here's a test for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like conventional body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story starts when the couple relocate from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that come with any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the symbolism never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
