Consider this a dare for long-term couples who are fans of the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like conventional body horror, but within Together lies a profound contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple relocate from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He fears the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple face the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
