Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like typical physical horror, but within Together resides a intense meditation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, the actors contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a enduring union.
The story starts when the couple relocate from the urban environment to the rural area for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While trekking near their country house, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force takes hold of the pair. This force creates a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks skillfully blends these components expertly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and distant from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of utterly sacrificing his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that come with most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a powerful case for staying single. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own interpretation could function as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu now.
