We present a dare for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical body horror, but within Together lies a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors bring a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim transition from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities 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 reluctance to chase only his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as clumsy or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
