Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your partner and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like standard biological terror, but inside Together lies a profound meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple move from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship over a long period. At their core, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples 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 response could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
