We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional physical horror, but inside Together resides a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the country for her career. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his network of friends. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply look at your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.