We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard physical horror, but inside Together resides a profound meditation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a particular energy to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He fears the concept of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that come with any relationship after ten years. At their core, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
