Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard body horror, but inside Together resides a profound examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story commences when the couple move from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending elements of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they still love one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your partner and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
