Here's a test for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional body horror, but within Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film 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 been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate 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 chase only his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and far away from his support system. He fears the concept of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters face the kind of problems that come with long-term unions a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
