Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a intense contemplation about our choices in loving our partners.
An Introductory Film Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his network of friends. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can embark on today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
