Here's a dare for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like standard physical horror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
