Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like typical biological terror, but inside Together resides a profound contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the type of challenges that come with most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
