Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together exists a deep examination about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). The director weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
The couple face the type of challenges that come with any relationship a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
