We present a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional physical horror, but within Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the two stars contribute a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when the couple transition from the big city to the rural area for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that arise in any relationship after ten years. Deep down, they still love each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
