We present a dare for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its streaming debut on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical body horror, but beneath Together lies a intense contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when the couple move from the big city to the countryside for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that arise in any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
