We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together lies a deep contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker 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 ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The story starts when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple face the type of challenges that come with long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
