Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like standard physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is 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, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the country for her career. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his support system. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative 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.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
