Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard body horror, but within Together resides a deep contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two tumble into an underground cave. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
