We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together resides a deep contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple confront the sort of issues that come with most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
