Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a profound examination about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters face the sort of issues that come with most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they still love each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
