We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your partner and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. At first glance, it might appear like typical physical horror, but inside Together resides a deep meditation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He dreads the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters face the type of challenges that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu at present.
