We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your partner and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but within Together resides a intense meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
