We present a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a deep examination about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim transition from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, interspersing moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something horrific). The director weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his support system. He dreads the concept of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that arise in long-term unions after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners 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 finale sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
