Consider this a challenge for partners in committed relationships who are fans of the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like typical body horror, but within Together resides a profound contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have been together for a decade. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the actors contribute a special spark to their characters, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when the couple move from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical story element, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes during something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and far away from his network of friends. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
