We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Sit down with your partner and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like standard physical horror, but within Together lies a profound contemplation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
