Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like standard body horror, but within Together exists a intense contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot begins when the couple transition from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the sort of issues that come with most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can embark on right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
