Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical body horror, but within Together lies a intense contemplation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the country for her career. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and far away from his support system. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes either of his characters the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. 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 scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
