We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your loved one and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional physical horror, but within Together resides a deep contemplation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
