We present a challenge for long-term couples who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it might appear like typical biological terror, but beneath Together resides a profound examination about our choices in loving one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
The couple face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the allegory never feels clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
