We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like standard biological terror, but beneath Together exists a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when the couple move from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and removed from his social circle. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that come with long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
