Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard body horror, but beneath Together resides a profound examination about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A commonly used story element, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together becomes 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 trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He dreads the idea of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
