Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional biological terror, but within Together lies a deep examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). The director weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He fears the concept of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie face the sort of issues that are inherent in long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
