Here's a test for long-term couples who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like typical body horror, but within Together exists a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Relationship Dynamics
Together represents the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Millie and Tim, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The plot starts when Tim and Millie relocate from the urban environment to the countryside for professional reasons. A familiar narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence takes hold of the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building of scares, weaving in bits of fever-dream horrors, gross (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something grotesque). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and sense of connection is waning due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the notion of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in Together never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with any relationship after ten years. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has sparked debate on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have interpreted the film as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, some couples having disagreements found that the film ultimately assisted them resolve their issues.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “I understand that choice”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can experience today.
Together is currently playing on the streaming service Hulu as of this moment.
