Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard physical horror, but within Together lies a deep contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a special spark to their characters, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the pair. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
