Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like typical body horror, but inside Together resides a profound meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He dreads the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple face the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they still love each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
