We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together exists a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for over ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story begins when the couple transition from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
