Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional body horror, but beneath Together exists a profound examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have been together for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the type of challenges that come with most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
