We present a dare for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like typical body horror, but beneath Together exists a intense meditation about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something disturbing). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
