We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie move from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He fears the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they still love one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for remaining unattached. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
