Here's a dare for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional body horror, but within Together exists a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their characters, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
