Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your significant other and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but within Together exists a intense examination about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their roles, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple move from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn fright fest, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and presents them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Both characters face the type of challenges that come with long-term unions a decade in. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism avoids being hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other 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 unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can undertake today.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
