Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple face the sort of issues that come with most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
