Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical biological terror, but inside Together lies a deep contemplation about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying horror experience, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed 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 circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes either of his characters the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
