We present a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional body horror, but inside Together exists a profound meditation about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the cliches conclude. Together becomes 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 rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they still love one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
