Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like standard physical horror, but beneath Together resides a intense contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple transition from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches end. 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 trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that arise in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they still love one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
