Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional biological terror, but within Together exists a intense examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is amplified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie confront the type of challenges that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
