Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like typical biological terror, but inside Together resides a profound meditation about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, blending elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
