Here's a test for long-term couples who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your loved one and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. On the surface, it may seem like conventional physical horror, but inside Together resides a intense examination about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a special spark to their roles, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar story element, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the tropes end. Together transforms into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic exchanges (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He fears the notion of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision is that he avoids making Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters face the kind of problems that arise in any relationship over a long period. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these concerns of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu at present.
