Here's a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like conventional body horror, but within Together lies a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the actors bring a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
