We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but within Together exists a deep meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie move from the metropolis to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
