Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like standard body horror, but beneath Together resides a intense examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. At their core, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
