We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like conventional biological terror, but inside Together exists a deep meditation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that come with most partnerships after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
