Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your partner and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional body horror, but inside Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
