Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together lies a profound examination about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a methodically building of scares, weaving in bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He fears the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
