Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep contemplation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
