Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like standard body horror, but beneath Together resides a intense contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when the couple move from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely 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 subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He fears the notion of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that are inherent in long-term unions after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu as of this moment.
