Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard body horror, but within Together lies a intense contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
