Consider this a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together resides a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that arise in any relationship after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
