Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like standard biological terror, but within Together lies a intense meditation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple 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, the actors infuse a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
