Here's a dare for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it could look like conventional body horror, but beneath Together exists a profound examination about how we choose to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating The Nuances of Love
Together marks the first full-length movie for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for ten years. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the actors contribute a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a enduring union.
The story starts when Millie and Tim move from the big city to the country for her career. A commonly used narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together transforms into as much a examination of mental states of the couple's dynamic as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and the two discover an underground cave. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Layered Performances
A large part of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they skillfully illustrate numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Millie’s confidence and sense of connection is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his reluctance to pursue anything but his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve relocated rural and removed from his network of friends. He dreads the concept of utterly sacrificing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that arise in most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They share moments of joy, provide solace, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an persistent feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these concerns of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments present a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other in harmony.
A Debated Finale
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. It has been said that single viewers have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. On the other hand, certain partners who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the finale plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an test you can experience today.
Together is streaming on the streaming service Hulu at present.
