We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard body horror, but inside Together exists a deep examination about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the sort of issues that come with any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
