Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together exists a profound examination about our choices in loving our partners.
An Introductory Film Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s primarily where the cliches conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). The director weaves these elements together seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they still love one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
