Here's a test for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a deep meditation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Relationship Dynamics
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, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie move from the metropolis to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
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 strange force begins influencing the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in moments of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He fears the concept of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
