We present a test for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your significant other and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional physical horror, but beneath Together exists a deep examination about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is 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, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when Tim and Millie move from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
The couple face the kind of problems that come with long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
