Here's a test for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional body horror, but beneath Together lies a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director 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 remained a couple for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s mostly where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie face the sort of issues that come with any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a strong argument for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
