Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like typical biological terror, but within Together resides a deep contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He fears the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple confront the kind of problems that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
