We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard physical horror, but inside Together lies a profound examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The story starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s primarily 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 trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these fears of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu now.
