Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a intense examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when the couple move from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A commonly used story element, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building of scares, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
