Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like typical body horror, but within Together lies a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the rural area for her career. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting 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 Together refrains from painting either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that arise in any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
