We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but within Together exists a deep meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story commences when the couple move from the metropolis to the countryside for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but never too gross) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that come with long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the symbolism never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, 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 currently playing on Hulu at present.
