Consider this a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate the horror genre: Get comfortable with your partner and stream Together. This independent film success of 2025 has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. Outwardly, it might appear like standard biological terror, but inside Together exists a intense meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into 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 Millie and Tim, partners that have been together for ten years. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their characters, skillfully embodying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The narrative begins when Tim and Millie transition from the big city to the country for professional reasons. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the cliches cease. 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 Paranormal Spark
While walking 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 supernatural entity starts to affect the couple. This force induces a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding typical partnership.
The entire film is a slow burn fright fest, blending bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and presents them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is only the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim senses confinement and separated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve moved to the country and removed from his support system. He fears the idea of completely losing his sense of self in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for mobility.
Shanks’ smartest move is that he avoids making either of his characters the obvious villain.
Tim and Millie confront the kind of problems that arise in any relationship a decade in. At their core, they still love each other. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of codependency and fully committing to another person, the symbolism does not come across as clumsy or self-important. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could potentially serve as a great barometer of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your significant other and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can experience at this very moment.
Together is currently playing on Hulu's platform at present.
