Here's a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but inside Together resides a profound meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature 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. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
