Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but within Together resides a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple confront the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending plant anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
