We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like conventional body horror, but inside Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple move from the metropolis to the country for her career. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and the two discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building horror experience, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters face the kind of problems that come with most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in harmony.
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 those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
