Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like standard body horror, but inside Together exists a deep examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, of course, but that’s primarily where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, blending elements of dreamlike terrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the allegory avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
