Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Settle in with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical biological terror, but inside Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the country for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that come with long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner 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 at present.
