Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound examination about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple transition from the metropolis to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion 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 distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
