Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional biological terror, but inside Together lies a deep contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The story begins when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
The couple face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, 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 state, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
