Consider this a test for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had 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 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 director Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical story element, of course, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim tumble into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity begins influencing the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). The director weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement 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 idea of completely losing his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that arise in most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor does not come across as overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
