Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical biological terror, but inside Together exists a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks 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 remained a couple for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, blending moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he never makes either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they still love each other. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could function as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
