Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard biological terror, but within Together lies a deep examination about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple face the type of challenges that come with any relationship over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
