We present a dare for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your partner and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like standard physical horror, but within Together resides a deep meditation about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that arise in any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these fears of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
