Here's a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your loved one and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together resides a profound meditation about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The story starts when the couple move from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking 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 mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could act 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 identify in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
