Consider this a test for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your significant other and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like standard biological terror, but beneath Together exists a intense examination about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He fears the concept of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that come with any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
