We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like typical biological terror, but beneath Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He fears the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that come with most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor does not come across as clumsy or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
