We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like standard body horror, but inside Together resides a profound examination about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
