We present a dare for long-term couples who enjoy horror films: Sit down with your significant other and stream Together. The independent film success of 2025 recently had its launch on a streaming platform on the Hulu service. On the surface, it could look like standard physical horror, but beneath Together exists a deep contemplation about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together represents the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a long-term relationship.
The story starts when Millie and Tim transition from the big city to the rural area for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, sure, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their country house, a tempest descends, and the two fall into an subterranean cavern. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The complete narrative is a gradually intensifying of scares, weaving in elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes amidst something disturbing). The director orchestrates these parts expertly and presents them in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate countless layers to the partnership at the film's core. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his unwillingness to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
The couple grapple with the type of challenges that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent 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 symbolism never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements offer a perfect parallel to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has created disagreement on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a powerful case for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in either protagonist and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your significant other and state, “I understand that choice”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform now.
