We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like conventional body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep contemplation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a supernatural entity takes hold of the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. 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 chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can embark on today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
