We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like typical physical horror, but inside Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story starts when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the country for her career. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He dreads the idea of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
The couple confront the type of challenges that arise in any relationship over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
