We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your loved one and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like conventional body horror, but beneath Together resides a intense examination about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu at present.
