We present a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate horror films: Get comfortable with your significant other and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it might appear like standard biological terror, but beneath Together resides a intense contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
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 a decade. Married in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The narrative begins when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the country for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists discover an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing moments of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). The director skillfully blends these components seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these fears of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as hamfisted or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the movie's final takeaway about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu at present.
