We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like standard body horror, but beneath Together resides a deep contemplation about the ways we decide to love each other.
An Introductory Film Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together represents the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The story commences when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the couple. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his support system. He fears the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes either of his characters the definite antagonist.
The couple confront the type of challenges that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can experience right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
