Consider this a test for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together lies a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that come with any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
