Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when the couple relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, blending elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the sort of issues that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements 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 telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
