We present a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like conventional body horror, but within Together resides a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters face the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
