We present a test for long-term couples who are fans of scary movies: Settle in with your significant other and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional body horror, but within Together resides a deep meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It features the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have been together for ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a particular energy to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Millie and Tim relocate from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Paranormal Spark
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two tumble into an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force compels a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying horror experience, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his floundering music career slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his social circle. He fears the notion of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and relies on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that arise in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they still love one another. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to a partner, the allegory avoids being clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s ending, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could potentially serve as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply look at your partner and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can embark on today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
