Here's a dare for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like conventional body horror, but beneath Together exists a intense contemplation about how we choose to love each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have been together for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie transition from the metropolis to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s primarily where the tropes conclude. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, blending moments of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). The director weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He fears the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie face the type of challenges that arise in long-term unions after ten years. Deep down, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory never feels overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the finale inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform as of this moment.
