We present a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like typical biological terror, but within Together lies a profound examination about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that come with most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
