We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it might appear like standard biological terror, but within Together exists a intense meditation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks 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 been together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the countryside for her career. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a methodically building of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion 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 feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Both characters face the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
