We present a test for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional biological terror, but inside Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The story begins when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying horror experience, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the ending plant anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
