Here's a challenge for long-term couples who are fans of scary movies: Sit down with your partner and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like standard body horror, but beneath Together exists a profound examination about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when the couple transition from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn horror experience, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He fears the idea of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters face the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and state, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
