Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your significant other and view Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it could look like conventional physical horror, but within Together exists a profound contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their characters, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, blending moments of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He dreads the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to another person, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
