Consider this a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard body horror, but within Together lies a deep contemplation about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The plot begins when the couple transition from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity begins influencing the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn horror experience, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is amplified by the reality 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 obvious villain.
The couple confront the kind of problems that arise in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
