We present a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but within Together lies a deep contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Tim and Millie move from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He dreads the concept of completely losing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that come with most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these fears of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
