Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and stream Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like typical body horror, but inside Together resides a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when the couple move from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two tumble into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts seamlessly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple confront the sort of issues that arise in long-term unions after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your other half and state, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
