Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it might appear like standard physical horror, but beneath Together lies a profound examination about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple face the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
