We present a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy horror films: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together resides a intense examination about the ways we decide to love each other.
A Debut Feature Exploring Partnership Complexities
Together is the introductory feature for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for over ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The plot begins when the couple relocate from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A familiar plot device, of course, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together evolves into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a film about physical terror.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The entire film is a slow burn of scares, interspersing moments of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes during something disturbing). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A significant portion of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Tim, on the other hand senses confinement and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Both characters grapple with the sort of issues that arise in most partnerships over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But beneath it all, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to another person, the symbolism never feels hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments 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 remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that single viewers have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, certain partners having disagreements found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you identify in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform now.
