Here's a dare for long-term couples who are fans of the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like typical physical horror, but inside Together lies a intense examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. 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 interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
