Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep meditation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence starts to affect the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory avoids being clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
