Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical body horror, but inside Together resides a intense contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the countryside for her career. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together evolves into 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 hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that come with long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
