Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like standard body horror, but within Together resides a profound examination about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when the couple move from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but never too gross) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his floundering music career gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
The couple face the sort of issues that come with long-term unions a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
