Here's a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story commences when the couple move from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection 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 senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters face the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
