Consider this a test for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it might appear like typical physical horror, but beneath Together exists a profound meditation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot begins when the couple relocate from the big city to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something grotesque). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He dreads the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the type of challenges that come with long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience today.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
