We present a test for long-term couples who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like typical body horror, but inside Together exists a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an underground cave. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
