Consider this a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like typical physical horror, but inside Together exists a intense meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when the couple transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
