Here's a test 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 streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but within Together lies a profound examination about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
