Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere on Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together lies a profound contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a strange force takes hold of the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying horror experience, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and delivers them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He fears the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters face the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict 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 ending plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
