Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Sit down with your partner and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when the couple transition from the big city to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He fears the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that come with long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
