We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like typical body horror, but inside Together lies a profound meditation about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the actors bring a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The story starts when the couple transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together seamlessly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the sort of issues that come with long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
