Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like standard body horror, but beneath Together lies a intense examination about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, 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 state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
