Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard body horror, but within Together exists a intense meditation about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes conclude. 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 walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building fright fest, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple face the kind of problems that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
