Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like standard physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound meditation about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the rural area for her career. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters face the kind of problems that come with long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
