Here's a dare for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like conventional body horror, but beneath Together resides a profound meditation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their characters, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim transition from the metropolis to the country for her career. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they still love one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
