Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical body horror, but inside Together lies a profound meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes during something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He fears the concept of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the type of challenges that come with most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
