Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard biological terror, but beneath Together exists a deep examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that arise in long-term unions after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
