I Think I've Seen This Film Before...

A review of horror-comedy Together (2025) and commentary on modern relationships. 

Everyone I know is getting engaged. I know I am 20 and am partially jealous of them for seemingly having their lives together enough to make such a decision, and that everyone always feels too young to do things, but this goes farther than that. In the span of the last 4 months, there have been over 5 engagements/weddings that have made me feel this way. I’m not sure if it has something to do with the fact that they are all my age or younger, the fact that they haven’t been together long enough (in my opinion), or simply the fact that the more I think about the concept of marriage the less I like it. One might ask: how does this relate to Together? Well, let’s just say going to see a film based on this exact feeling and having it be treated as a horror concept, left quite an impression.

When I originally heard that Neon was releasing a horror film based on a couple that slowly got physically stuck together, I was of course intrigued. I figured Together would explore what it was like to be so close to someone and how it could be harmful to individual personalities and cause too much codependency. However, where the film took these topics was even more than I could have imagined. Although the images within the film were shocking, as the content unfolded, I realized the theme within it was not.

I predicted correctly how the film would showcase codependency in relationships and how sometimes people can become solely focused on their relationship. Did I predict that this film would promote, through the lens of a cult, that finding our other half was not only important, but something that has been deeply conditioned into us for decades? No. Did I predict that the characters would make the choice to become one willingly instead of being forced into it? Also, no. Did I think that whatever was going to happen in this film would be almost directly what has been happening around me for years now? Yes. This, along with the overarching theme of relationships consuming modern thought, is what has struck me with inspiration.

Together starts by introducing us to the two main characters, played by real-life couple Alison Brie (Millie) and Dave Franco (Tim). Tim is presented as very emotionally distant, as if his life is passing him by. He is in his mid 30s and he doesn’t have a steady job, just a guitar and a dream. Millie, on the other hand, is a teacher who is presented as fun, caring, and way too good for Tim. Millie has ambitions and has a job. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she is presented as the bread-winner in this relationship. Modern relationships now are becoming more frequently an amazing woman partnered with a man who just wanted to be in a relationship. The kicker here is, they’ve been in this shallow, unfulfilling relationship for almost a decade and are unmarried, although they both make many attempts at starting conversations about it. These characters are clearly trapped in this relationship because they have become content with it. Besides being codependent on each other for literal things like Tim not having a license and Millie not knowing how to cook, this couple also shares that they don’t remember a time without one another. They eventually move to a small countryside home away from their friends and family for Millie’s job, but this could also be seen as a direct representation of isolation. They make the choice together to distance themselves from any outside perspective or opinion in the name of it being better for their relationship. This is a reflection of emotional entrapment and contributes to their unhealthy dynamics they have established in the relationship.

“Are we still together because we like each other, or because we’re used to each other?”

This made me think about the relationships I mentioned above, how long they had been together and if those same things applied to them. Although these relationships have not been near as long, they share this same sense of being trapped within their being content. In my opinion, many relationships now confuse the feeling of happiness with the feeling of security. Not only does this feel like a very outdated way of thinking, it also puts the concept of being actually happy in a relationship on the backburner. This film showcases this in many instances, most notably with a dinner party where Tim, although he is technically more dependent on Millie than vice versa, feels trapped in the relationship. The dynamic of both feeling trapped by and feeling content within the relationship are shown in a very interesting way throughout, and in ways that I think can be applied to many modern relationships.

While the film continues, it sets up how they will slowly become attached: by drinking water from a cave which holds the remains of a former cult-lead church…stay with me here, we’ll circle back to that. Once they drink this water, which the audience later finds out is the reason they are becoming attached, they begin to experience physical symptoms as a result of their attraction or even simply distance to one another. These symptoms first appear within Tim, which cannot be coincidental as he relies on Millie in the relationship much more than she depends on him. This is shown in a really interesting scene where Millie goes to work and Tim is left behind at home. Tim’s body begins following the exact turns her car is taking on the road, and eventually results with him breaking part of the shower he is in and going to a doctor. These symptoms are explained to him as a manifestation of anxiety, which isn’t completely wrong. Tim experiences this many more times, the most severe causing him to not go to his job opportunity and instead follow Millie to hers. Although Millie doesn’t immediately feel the impact of these urges - I think this stems from her being more distant to begin with - it eventually does affect her and she has trouble being away from him as well.

This is direct commentary on codependency. Whether or not a significant other physically or mentally follows the other around, the thought of them is constantly there. They have stock in how decisions are made, what the other does each day, and even sometimes what the other says in conversation. This shows itself in constantly talking about a significant other in conversation or even something as small as automatically assuming they are invited to things when you are (which I have experienced firsthand). Someone doesn’t have to physically be with their partner in order for the presence of their partner to be with them, this film just chose to show it in the most in-your-face way possible. By showing this idea in such a way, the audience sees the impact that one person can have on another right in front of them.

“I think something’s happening to us…I can’t explain it, but we’re sick.”

What I think is the most interesting part of Together, and what really sold me on it in the theater, was the ending. In the end, after trying to fight being physically attached to one another (keep in mind that they never once consider this as a sign that they are too emotionally attached to one another, just that it hurts to be physically attached) they lose the fight and merge into one person. While this in itself is a funny concept, and while this is what is turning many away from this film, this hit the nail right on the head for me. There is no way around it, this film is commenting on the loss of solo identity that comes from being in a relationship like this. Tim and Millie choosing to merge shows their deliberate sacrifice of their individual lives. Millie will never be a teacher. Tim will never be a rockstar. The film slowly shifts its focus, as does the relationship, until the only topic in focus is being together - mentally and physically.

This shift has shown itself many times in my day-to-day life. I often ask peers that are in relationships what they do for fun. I ask them what interests them or entertains them. They almost never have an answer for me. The reason they never have an answer is because their lives revolve completely around their relationship. They spend the day talking to, or let’s face it - snapchatting, their partner. They don’t think about other things. They put all of their energy every day into pleasing the other person or, more often, making sure the other person is still interested in them. They don’t have hobbies. Their hobby is texting their boyfriends. They don’t have interests. They are just interested in keeping their boyfriends’ interest. They, in a way, merge into one person. One entity of existence. There is no depth to the relationship, yet they insist on getting engaged in an attempt to confirm this form of entrapment. Getting engaged, or getting married I suppose, feels like the ultimate end goal. The sad thing is, they don’t see this themselves. These couples have fallen for years of influence and peer opinion pieces saying that the only way a woman can ever amount to anything is to get married and eventually have a child. This is where the concepts of the church represented in this movie best show themselves in present day conversations: societal standards and influence.

“You know, this could be the beginning of something wonderful.”

The cult in this film acts to represent the pressures of marriage and relationships. After falling into the ruins of the cult’s church, this is where Millie and Tim drink the water that was used in ritual within the cult. The beliefs of this group are rooted in the ideas of finding your other half not being a suggestion, but a purpose. They believe people are made as two, separated, and then must spend their lives looking for the other half. This wouldn’t seem as wild of a concept on its own, as most do believe in the concept of soulmates. However, this cult believes the two must take a step even further and do a ritual in which the two become one - physically. So once again, this film has worked a relatively common occurrence in our modern culture and amplified it to show the audience where some problems might appear when looking at it up close.

I think this is absolutely a take on marriage, as those concepts are all present within marriage itself. One mind, one body, one heart. This continues the themes presented earlier of completely losing oneself to their relationship and simply becoming a product of the union rather than an active participant within it. I believe this is also commentary on the pressure that has been put upon individuals, specifically women, that you must get married in order to ever feel complete or content. Although the concept of marriage as a determining social status has faded away, there is definitely still a push for that big moment within one’s life to get married. We have seen a recent rise in the ideals of traditional marital values with varying issues arising in our economy and the rise of the ‘trad wife’ aesthetic, so this couldn’t have come at a better time. The concept of the cult is crucial to the themes within the horror aspects of the film, but also in tying the film back to reality with societal pressure, standards, and beliefs.

This film is a perfect example of what I want in a film in 2025. I want a film to speak about things that feel so normal, yet when looked at under a different lens, feel very different. This film did a great job at simply amplifying what we see around us on a daily basis, and I think that’s what a great modern horror should do. Although including some of the standard horror tropes like jump scares and knocks at the door, this film takes strides in its commentary and critique of our world today. Michael Shanks, who has said this film is based on his own experiences in a 16 year relationship, does a masterful job at making the audience’s uneasiness come from the familiarity of the themes presented, rather than the visual scenes in front of them.

It feels like everyone around me, before Together even came out, was already practicing the themes within it. Everyone around me is getting engaged and making such big commitments to these other people and I can’t help but relate it to what I saw on screen. I think that’s why I adored this film so much: I feel like I’m living it. Any time we can comment on societal standards or happenings I am completely on board. However, I think actually seeing this happen to people around me (not literally of course) made this film even more terrifying. I know this would not have hit as hard in 2019 when Shanks originally started writing the script because people had not yet become so attached to each other while knowing little to nothing about the other. To blame everything on the pandemic and the lack of personality and depth within the people around me because they are simply trapped on their phones is not my goal for every post, but every single thing in our society seems to relate back to it and this feels no different. People are merging together in relationships before they even have time to form their own lives and personalities, before they even get to experience the world around them, and I think that is exactly what Shanks is trying to prevent.

Together wants us to recognize how caught up we are in trying to find others to fulfill our lives. Together wants us to recognize how unhealthy some relationship dynamics are that seem perfectly normal to some. Together wants us to understand what can happen when relying solely on relationships to validate our existence: a complete loss of who you once were, or who you could ever become. Together didn’t haunt me because of what I saw, but because I had already seen it before.