We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical biological terror, but within Together resides a profound meditation about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical story element, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters face the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
