Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like standard biological terror, but within Together exists a intense examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when the couple relocate from the big city to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He fears the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
The couple face the sort of issues that arise in long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
