We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like conventional physical horror, but inside Together resides a deep contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together represents the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the sort of issues that arise in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. 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 who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
