Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like standard biological terror, but within Together resides a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors bring a particular energy to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning 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 slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He fears the notion of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that come with any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
