Consider this a dare for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but within Together exists a deep examination about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He dreads the concept of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple face the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending plant anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
