Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical body horror, but within Together resides a profound contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He dreads the idea of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple face the type of challenges that come with long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and scream at your TV, 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 Hulu as of this moment.
