Here's a challenge for long-term couples who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical body horror, but inside Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The story starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the rural area for her career. A commonly used plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, blending elements of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
