We present a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like typical body horror, but beneath Together lies a deep meditation about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the rural area for her career. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity begins influencing the couple. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, interspersing elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu now.
