Consider this a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard body horror, but within Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your partner and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
