We present a test for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your significant other and view Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like standard biological terror, but inside Together resides a intense meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Directorial Debut Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The plot begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the country for her career. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment 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 cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu as of this moment.
