We present a dare for long-term couples who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together lies a intense meditation about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force takes hold of the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the kind of problems that come with any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can embark on right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
