Here's a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like typical biological terror, but inside Together lies a intense examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a special spark to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Millie and Tim relocate from the big city to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, of course, but that’s mostly where the tropes cease. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their country house, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity takes hold of the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The complete narrative is a slow burn of scares, blending bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is deteriorating due to a distance. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his unwillingness to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and far away from his social circle. He dreads the notion of totally forfeiting his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie face the sort of issues that arise in long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a compelling reason for staying single. On the other hand, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you think about commitment. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply look at your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu as of this moment.
