We present a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like standard physical horror, but beneath Together exists a intense examination about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He dreads the idea of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each 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. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu at present.
