Here's a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical biological terror, but beneath Together exists a deep examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story commences when the couple move from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple confront the sort of issues that come with most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the symbolism avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
