Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together lies a deep examination about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie refrains from painting either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
