Here's a challenge for long-term couples who are fans of horror films: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. The independent film success of 2025 just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it might appear like standard biological terror, but beneath Together resides a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Investigating Relationship Dynamics
Together marks the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, partners that have been together for a decade. Married in real life in 2017, the two stars bring a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the joys and frustrations of a committed partnership.
The plot commences when the couple transition from the metropolis to the country for Millie’s job. A somewhat stereotypical narrative setup, sure, but that’s mostly where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the couple's dynamic as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim fall into an hole in the earth. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence starts to affect the pair. This force induces a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond simple connection.
The whole movie is a methodically building fright fest, interspersing bits of hallucinatory nightmares, gross (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and authentically humorous dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks orchestrates these parts neatly and delivers them in a slowly mounting sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they deftly portray countless layers to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is waning due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and separated by Millie, who’s the impetus they’ve moved to the country and removed from his network of friends. He fears the concept of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in another person. This fear is intensified by the reality he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
Shanks’ smartest move in Together never makes Tim or Millie the obvious villain.
Both characters face the type of challenges that come with most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they have affection for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of excessive reliance and totally devoting oneself to another person, the allegory does not come across as clumsy or pretentious. Instead, these visceral horror elements provide a ideal counterpart to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the supernatural and the personal work together in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s ending, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the film’s ultimate message about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have interpreted the film as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them make up.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own reaction could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale inspire anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in one of the characters and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your significant other and utter, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an experiment you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
