Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like conventional physical horror, but within Together lies a profound meditation about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story begins when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the country for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that come with most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
