Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like standard biological terror, but inside Together exists a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the country for her career. A somewhat stereotypical story element, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists tumble into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He dreads the notion of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for 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 future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
