Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like typical biological terror, but within Together lies a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when the couple move from the big city to the countryside for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
