Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard physical horror, but beneath Together exists a intense meditation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches conclude. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners 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 response could function as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and state, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
