Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your loved one and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional biological terror, but inside Together resides a profound contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when the couple relocate from the big city to the rural area for her career. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in any relationship over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, 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 understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
