We present a test for those in enduring partnerships who are fans of the horror genre: Settle in with your significant other and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie has now made its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it may seem like typical body horror, but within Together resides a profound meditation about the ways we decide to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It stars actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Married in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a special spark to their roles, skillfully embodying both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story starts when Millie and Tim move from the urban environment to the rural area for her career. A commonly used plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the conventions conclude. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While walking near their rural residence, a storm hits, and the two tumble into an subterranean cavern. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn of scares, interspersing elements of dreamlike terrors, disturbing (but never too gross) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny interactions (sometimes during something horrific). The director skillfully blends these components neatly and wraps them up in a gradually swelling sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is solely Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his hesitance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits slowly bubbles to the surface.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve moved to the country and far away from his network of friends. He dreads the idea of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is amplified by the circumstance he lacks a driver's license and needs Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes Tim or Millie the definite antagonist.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Fundamentally, they still love each other. They still laugh together, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable current of uncertainty about their future together.
Symbolism and Metaphor
While the supernatural forces in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and fully committing to a partner, the symbolism avoids being clumsy or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the horror and the drama serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. It has been said that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. On the other hand, certain partners experiencing tension found that the film ultimately assisted them make up.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own response could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and yell at the screen, or simply turn to your partner and say, “We could get through that together”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an test you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu now.
