We present a test for long-term couples who are fans of the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like standard body horror, but beneath Together lies a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie move from the metropolis to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used story element, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. At their core, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
