Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like standard body horror, but beneath Together exists a deep meditation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when the couple move from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters face the kind of problems that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
