Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together lies a deep examination about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity starts to affect the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a methodically building of scares, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts seamlessly and presents them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his support system. He dreads the idea of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. Conversely, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on today.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
