We present a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like typical biological terror, but inside Together resides a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple confront the sort of issues that are inherent in long-term unions after ten years. At their core, they continue to care 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 bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
