Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but within Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when the couple move from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that come with any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
