Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your partner and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but within Together exists a intense meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director 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 ten years. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that come with most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama 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. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
