We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical biological terror, but beneath Together exists a deep meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple transition from the big city to the countryside for her career. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
