We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. At their core, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.