We present a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your partner and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on Hulu. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional body horror, but within Together resides a profound examination about how we choose to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but never too gross) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and distant from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie confront the sort of issues that arise in long-term unions a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
