Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical physical horror, but within Together resides a intense examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker 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 remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot begins when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches conclude. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He dreads the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple face the kind of problems that come with long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
