Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical biological terror, but beneath Together resides a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
