We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that come with most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they still love one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
