Consider this a dare for long-term couples who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like typical physical horror, but within Together lies a intense meditation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together represents the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a unique chemistry to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when the couple move from the urban environment to the countryside for her career. A somewhat stereotypical plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches end. Together becomes as much a deep dive into the psyche of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and the protagonists tumble into an underground cave. After a night spent there and finally finding a way out, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn fright fest, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, gross (but never too gross) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is solely the two lead actors, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and sense of connection is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his failing musical ambitions inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and far away from his social circle. He dreads the notion of completely losing his sense of self in another person. This fear is amplified by the fact he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in this movie refrains from painting Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Both characters confront the sort of issues that arise in any relationship a decade in. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their relationship.
Allegory and Meaning
While the otherworldly presence in Together represent these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the allegory avoids being hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the conclusion inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and utter, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can undertake right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
