We present a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like typical biological terror, but beneath Together exists a deep examination about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple face the type of challenges that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
