We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like standard physical horror, but within Together resides a deep examination about our choices in loving one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a methodically building fright fest, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that arise in any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they still love each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
