Consider this a challenge for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your loved one and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like conventional biological terror, but beneath Together exists a intense examination about our choices in loving each other.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together is the debut feature-length film for director Michael Shanks. It features 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. Married in actuality in 2017, the actors bring a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when the couple transition from the urban environment to the rural area for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, of course, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While hiking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and finally finding a way out, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past simple connection.
The complete narrative is a methodically building of scares, weaving in moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but tastefully done) body horror, and surprisingly comedic interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is deteriorating due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character senses confinement and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the notion of completely losing his individual identity in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and relies on Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making Tim or Millie the clear bad guy.
The couple face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable undercurrent of doubt about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels clumsy or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. On the other hand, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending plant anxiety and horror, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
