Here's a dare for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional body horror, but within Together exists a profound contemplation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, blending moments of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
