Consider this a test for long-term couples who are fans of the horror genre: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional body horror, but inside Together resides a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars 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 been together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He fears the concept of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that come with long-term unions a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
