Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Sit down with your loved one and view Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like standard physical horror, but within Together resides a deep meditation about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot commences when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying horror experience, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his sense of self in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, 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.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform now.
