Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like typical body horror, but inside Together resides a deep contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his social circle. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters face the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu now.
