Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical body horror, but beneath Together resides a profound contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
The couple face the sort of issues that come with most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
