Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its streaming debut on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like typical biological terror, but within Together lies a intense meditation about our choices in loving one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, 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 conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
