Here's a test for long-term couples who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like conventional body horror, but beneath Together lies a deep meditation about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He fears the notion of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple confront the kind of problems that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
