We present a dare for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim transition from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the type of challenges that come with most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the allegory avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
