Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like conventional biological terror, but inside Together exists a deep meditation about our choices in loving one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the actors bring a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He fears the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters face the type of challenges that come with any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
