Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like standard body horror, but beneath Together resides a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when the couple transition from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they deftly portray countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He dreads the notion of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the kind of problems that arise in any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that those not in relationships have understood the narrative as a strong argument for remaining unattached. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu now.
