Consider this a dare for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional body horror, but beneath Together exists a deep meditation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that come with any relationship over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
