We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like conventional biological terror, but inside Together exists a intense meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker 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 been together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the country for her career. A somewhat stereotypical story element, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the symbolism never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
