We present a test for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical physical horror, but within Together resides a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors bring a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal 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 emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
