Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and view Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its launch on a streaming platform via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like typical body horror, but within Together resides a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for a decade. Having wed in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the metropolis to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used narrative setup, sure, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building fright fest, blending moments of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but never too gross) physical transformations, and authentically humorous interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and delivers them in a consistently growing atmosphere of fear.
Layered Performances
A great deal of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve relocated rural and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he lacks a driver's license and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions a decade in. Fundamentally, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could act as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply look at your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
