Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like standard biological terror, but within Together lies a intense meditation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when the couple transition from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, blending elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement 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 idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in any relationship over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
