Here's a test for long-term couples who are fans of horror films: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like typical biological terror, but within Together exists a deep meditation about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building of scares, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that come with most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
