Consider this a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like typical body horror, but within Together exists a intense contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have stayed together for ten years. Married in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the countryside for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force takes hold of the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting either of his characters the obvious villain.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the allegory never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
