Consider this a dare for long-term couples who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your partner and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but within Together lies a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the conventions cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the two discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could function as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your partner and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
