Consider this a test for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like typical body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep meditation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a methodically building of scares, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the sort of issues that come with any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
