Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together lies a deep examination about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a methodically building of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He dreads the notion of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
