Consider this a dare for partners in committed relationships who appreciate horror films: Settle in with your loved one and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like typical body horror, but inside Together lies a deep meditation about how we choose to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story commences when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the countryside for her career. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and eventually escaping, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a methodically building horror experience, weaving in moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of completely losing his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and needs Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
Both characters confront the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for remaining unattached. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply look at your other half and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
