Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like typical body horror, but inside Together lies a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters face the type of challenges that come with long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
