Here's a test for those in enduring partnerships who appreciate the horror genre: Sit down with your partner and watch Together. This independent film success of 2025 just made its streaming debut on Hulu. On the surface, it could look like typical body horror, but within Together lies a intense examination about how we choose to love one another.
A Debut Feature Investigating Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, a pair who are not married that have remained a couple for over ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, the actors infuse a unique chemistry to their portrayals, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Millie and Tim transition from the metropolis to the country for professional reasons. A commonly used plot device, sure, but that’s largely where the conventions end. Together becomes as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While hiking near their rural residence, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim discover an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and finally finding a way out, a strange force begins influencing the pair. This force creates a supernatural closeness between them that goes far beyond typical partnership.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, weaving in elements of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) physical transformations, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and presents them in a slowly mounting aura of dread.
Nuanced Portrayals
A significant portion of Together is only the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and emotional bond is suffering due to a distance. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his unwillingness to chase only his failing musical ambitions gradually emerges.
Tim, on the other hand experiences isolation and isolated by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He fears the notion of completely losing his sense of self in Millie. This fear is intensified by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and needs Millie for getting around.
The director's cleverest decision in Together never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple face the kind of problems that come with any relationship over a long period. Deep down, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and are vulnerable at times. But below this facade, there’s an inescapable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together act as a metaphor for these concerns of unhealthy attachment and giving oneself over to another person, the metaphor does not come across as hamfisted or pretentious. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes offer a brilliant analogue to the interpersonal storytelling. Both the frights and the fights serve the other in a mutually beneficial way.
A Divisive Ending
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that single viewers have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for staying single. Meanwhile, some couples experiencing tension found that the film ended up guiding them to resolve their issues.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own response could function as a telling indicator of how you perceive partnership. Will the finale sow anxiety and horror, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in either protagonist and feel frustration, or simply glance toward your partner and state, “We could get through that together”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an experiment you can undertake right now.
Together is available to watch on Hulu now.
