We present a dare for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but inside Together lies a deep examination about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
