Here's a test for long-term couples who are fans of the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like standard physical horror, but inside Together resides a intense meditation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a particular energy to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when the couple relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). The director weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his network of friends. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that arise in any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
