Consider this a test for long-term couples who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like conventional physical horror, but inside Together resides a profound examination about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together evolves 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 country house, a storm hits, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He fears the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that are inherent in long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
