Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but inside Together exists a deep examination about our choices in loving our partners.
A Debut Feature Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, an unmarried couple that have stayed together for a decade. Married in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a enduring union.
The story starts when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the countryside for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two discover an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence takes hold of the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes amidst something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they deftly portray countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He fears the notion of completely losing his sense of self in another person. This fear is amplified by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the type of challenges that come with any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Allegory and Meaning
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these concerns of codependency and giving oneself over to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that single viewers have understood the narrative as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and scream at your TV, or simply turn to your other half and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can experience today.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
