We present a dare for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like typical physical horror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a slow burn horror experience, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
