Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it might appear like typical body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The story commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He dreads the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu at present.
