Consider this a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical biological terror, but inside Together exists a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film 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 remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple transition from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He fears the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple face the type of challenges that come with any relationship after ten years. At their core, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure 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 either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
