Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like typical physical horror, but inside Together lies a deep contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He fears the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple face the sort of issues that come with any relationship after ten years. At their core, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
