Consider this a test for partners in committed relationships who enjoy the horror genre: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. This critically acclaimed 2025 movie recently had its streaming debut on the Hulu service. Outwardly, it could look like conventional body horror, but beneath Together lies a intense meditation about our choices in loving each other.
An Introductory Film Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It features actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have remained a couple for over ten years. Having wed in real life in 2017, Franco and Brie contribute a unique chemistry to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the joys and frustrations of a long-term relationship.
The narrative commences when the couple transition from the urban environment to the countryside for Millie’s job. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s mostly where the tropes end. Together evolves into as much a examination of mental states of the pair’s relationship as it is a movie featuring biological frights.
An Otherworldly Trigger
While walking near their new home, a violent storm occurs, and the two fall into an hole in the earth. After a night spent there and managing to escape, a mysterious influence begins influencing the couple. This force compels a paranormal intimacy between them that goes far beyond emotional intimacy.
The entire film is a methodically building horror experience, interspersing bits of fever-dream horrors, disturbing (but tastefully done) biological grotesqueries, and genuinely funny dialogue (sometimes amidst something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and wraps them up in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is solely the performances of its stars, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the dynamic between Tim and Millie. Millie's sense of self and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her unspoken irritation of Tim for his hesitance to pursue anything but his floundering music career inexorably rises.
In contrast, Tim's character feels trapped and separated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and distant from his social circle. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his sense of self in another person. This fear is further exacerbated by the reality he does not operate a vehicle and relies on Millie for mobility.
The director's cleverest decision in Together avoids making one partner or the other the clear bad guy.
Tim and Millie grapple with the type of challenges that are inherent in any relationship after ten years. At their core, they continue to care for each other. They find humor with each other, offer support, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable undercurrent of doubt about their bond.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together represent these anxieties of codependency and giving oneself over to another person, the symbolism never feels overly obvious or pretentious. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments provide a perfect parallel to the relationship narrative. Both the supernatural and the personal serve the other symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which is best experienced firsthand, has created disagreement on the movie's final takeaway about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that those not in relationships have seen the movie as a strong argument for avoiding commitment. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film ended up guiding them to reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own interpretation could potentially serve as a telling indicator of how you view relationships. Will the ending plant a sense of discomfort and fear, or a positive outlook on love? Will you see yourself in Tim or Millie and feel frustration, or simply turn to your partner and state, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an exploration you can embark on today.
Together is streaming on Hulu now.
