Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like standard body horror, but beneath Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the symbolism never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
