We present a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical body horror, but inside Together lies a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The story begins when the couple move from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the type of challenges that arise in any relationship after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
