Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a deep examination about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, the two stars contribute a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the type of challenges that come with long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu at present.
