Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like typical body horror, but inside Together resides a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He fears the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
