Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but within Together resides a profound contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim transition from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and removed from his social circle. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie face the sort of issues that arise in long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
