We present a test for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your loved one and view Together. The 2025 indie hit recently had its online premiere via Hulu. Outwardly, it could look like conventional biological terror, but within Together lies a profound examination about our choices in loving one another.
A Debut Feature Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie move from the metropolis to the rural area for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the duo. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something disturbing). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and distant from his support system. He dreads the concept of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie refrains from painting one partner or the other the definite antagonist.
The couple face the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the metaphor avoids being overly obvious or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which is best experienced firsthand, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a powerful case for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a telling indicator of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply look at your significant other and say, “I understand that choice”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an test you can experience at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
