We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard biological terror, but beneath Together lies a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a particular energy to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot starts when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar story element, of course, but that’s largely where the cliches conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
