We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but within Together resides a intense examination about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a special spark to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together becomes 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 violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, blending moments of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow 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 partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu now.
