Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard biological terror, but inside Together exists a deep examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for over ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He fears the concept of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the type of challenges that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters 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 embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
