Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like conventional body horror, but within Together exists a profound examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches conclude. Together evolves 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 new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that arise in any relationship after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
