Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like standard biological terror, but within Together lies a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when the couple transition from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used story element, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He dreads the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple face the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
