Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like typical biological terror, but beneath Together lies a intense meditation about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story begins when Tim and Millie move from the big city to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions cease. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their country house, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the couple. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building fright fest, interspersing bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the reality he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the sort of issues that are inherent in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest 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 resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake today.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
