We present a test for long-term couples who are fans of horror films: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. The 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together lies a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. Married in reality in 2017, the two stars bring a particular energy to their characters, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The plot commences when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) body horror, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He fears the idea of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together refrains from painting either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the allegory avoids being overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a revealing measure of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
