Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like standard body horror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The story begins when Millie and Tim transition from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence starts to affect the duo. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He dreads the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
