We present a test for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like typical physical horror, but beneath Together exists a intense meditation about our choices in loving one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the two tumble into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He dreads the notion of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the type of challenges that come with long-term unions a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
