We present a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together resides a deep examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the country for her career. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the cliches 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 rural residence, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
