Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like conventional body horror, but beneath Together resides a intense examination about our choices in loving our partners.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars 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. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, blending moments of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
