Here's a challenge for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate scary movies: Settle in with your partner and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 has now made its online premiere on the Hulu service. At first glance, it may seem like standard body horror, but inside Together exists a deep examination about the ways we decide to love one another.
An Introductory Film Exploring Relationship Dynamics
Together is the introductory feature 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 remained a couple for ten years. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars bring a particular energy to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The narrative starts when Tim and Millie transition from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions cease. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the partnership as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the protagonists fall into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the duo. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying horror experience, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny exchanges (sometimes amidst something disturbing). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together expertly and wraps them up in a slowly mounting atmosphere of fear.
Nuanced Portrayals
A great deal of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render manifold depths to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie’s confidence and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
Tim, on the other hand feels trapped and cut off by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the concept of utterly sacrificing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision is that he never makes one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships after ten years. At their core, they have affection for each other. They share moments of joy, comfort one another, and are vulnerable at times. But under the surface, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these fears of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the metaphor does not come across as overly obvious or self-important. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in harmony.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the film’s ultimate message about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you think about commitment. Will the ending inspire a sense of discomfort and fear, or a heartwarming sense of hope? Will you recognize your own traits in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your other half and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can undertake at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu as of this moment.
