Here's a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars bring a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The story commences when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for her career. A commonly used story element, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together evolves into 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 storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He fears the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
