Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your partner and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical biological terror, but within Together lies a deep contemplation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical story element, sure, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
