We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical body horror, but beneath Together exists a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters face the kind of problems that arise in any relationship over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. 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. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire 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 other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
