Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together resides a intense examination about our choices in loving our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim transition from the urban environment to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force takes hold of the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
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 inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
