Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like typical physical horror, but inside Together lies a deep examination about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He fears the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
