Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its streaming debut on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical body horror, but within Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when the couple move from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence starts to affect the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they still love each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
