We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your loved one and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like standard body horror, but within Together exists a profound examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the couple. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration 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 isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He fears the notion of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in another person. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
