We present a dare for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical biological terror, but within Together lies a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The story begins when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. 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 reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
