Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional biological terror, but within Together exists a profound contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something horrific). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that come with any relationship a decade in. At their core, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
