Here's a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and view Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like typical body horror, but beneath Together exists a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar story element, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu at present.
