Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like conventional body horror, but beneath Together exists a deep examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple transition from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
