Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like typical body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for over ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your partner and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
