We present a dare for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like standard biological terror, but beneath Together exists a intense meditation about our choices in loving our partners.
A Directorial Debut Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in real life in 2017, the two stars contribute a particular energy to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple move from the big city to the countryside for her career. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s largely where the tropes conclude. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a film about physical terror.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a storm hits, and Millie and Tim discover an underground cave. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a strange force begins influencing the duo. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes well past simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building fright fest, blending bits of dreamlike terrors, unsettling (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes in the middle of something grotesque). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is exclusively the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the partnership at the film's core. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is waning due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his floundering music career inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and distant from his support system. He fears the notion of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for transportation.
The film's most intelligent aspect is that he refrains from painting one partner or the other the obvious villain.
The couple grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. Fundamentally, they still love one another. They still laugh together, provide solace, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their bond.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these anxieties of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory never feels clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these visceral horror elements present a ideal counterpart to the relationship narrative. Both the horror and the drama work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s final act, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have seen the movie as a strong argument for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples having disagreements 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 conclusion sow anxiety and horror, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you identify in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your other half and utter, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can embark on right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu's platform at present.
