Consider this a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like standard physical horror, but beneath Together resides a profound meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He dreads the idea of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that come with long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
