Consider this a dare for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like typical physical horror, but within Together resides a intense contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the rural area for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn horror experience, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
