Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like typical biological terror, but beneath Together lies a profound examination about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for a decade. Married in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the country for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the metaphor never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
