Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but beneath Together exists a intense examination about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple transition from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together transforms 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 walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
The couple confront the sort of issues that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
