We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound contemplation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components 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 deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu at present.
