Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard physical horror, but inside Together lies a intense meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when the couple relocate from the big city to the countryside for her career. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu now.
