Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together resides a deep meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars contribute a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. 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 hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
