Here's a test for long-term couples who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together lies a intense examination about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the metropolis to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, of course, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, weaving in elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is waning due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and far away from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. At their core, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow a sense of discomfort and fear, 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 partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
