Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a profound 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 stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The story begins when the couple move from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He fears the notion of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the type of challenges that come with most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can embark on today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
