Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your loved one and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like standard body horror, but within Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot begins when the couple transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they deftly portray countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He fears the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
