Here's a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like standard body horror, but within Together resides a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
