We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it might appear like standard body horror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim transition from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the sort of issues that come with most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
