Consider this a dare for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Settle in with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together resides a profound meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when the couple move from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience today.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
