Here's a challenge for long-term couples who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical body horror, but within Together exists a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The plot commences when the couple transition from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively 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 lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have interpreted the film as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
