We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like standard body horror, but within Together lies a profound examination about our choices in loving each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together becomes 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 trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, blending elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes during something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
The couple face the kind of problems that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
