Here's a test for partners in committed relationships who are fans of horror films: Get comfortable with your loved one and watch Together. The 2025 indie hit has now made its streaming debut via Hulu. On the surface, it might appear like conventional physical horror, but inside Together exists a profound contemplation about how we choose to love one another.
A Directorial Debut Delving into Partnership Complexities
Together marks the debut feature-length film for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as Tim and Millie, an unmarried couple that have been together for a decade. Having wed in actuality in 2017, Franco and Brie bring a particular energy to their portrayals, expertly portraying both the strengths and weaknesses of a committed partnership.
The story begins when the couple transition from the urban environment to the country for Millie’s job. A commonly used story element, of course, but that’s mostly where the conventions end. Together evolves into as much a psychological exploration of the partnership as it is a film about physical terror.
A Paranormal Spark
While walking near their new home, a tempest descends, and the protagonists tumble into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and managing to escape, a strange force starts to affect the duo. This force compels a otherworldly bond between them that goes exceeding simple connection.
The complete narrative is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing elements of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) body horror, and surprisingly comedic dialogue (sometimes during something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a gradually swelling aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A great deal of Together is exclusively Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render countless layers to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and emotional bond is suffering due to a lack of intimacy. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his failing musical ambitions slowly bubbles to the surface.
Conversely, Tim feels trapped and isolated by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his support system. He is terrified of the idea of completely losing his individual identity in his partner. This fear is intensified by the circumstance he can’t drive and needs Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision is that he refrains from painting either of his characters the definite antagonist.
Both characters grapple with the kind of problems that come with most partnerships over a long period. At their core, they continue to care for one another. They find humor with each other, comfort one another, and share intimately at times. But beneath it all, there’s an unavoidable current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the paranormal elements in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and fully committing to a partner, the allegory never feels hamfisted or self-important. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes provide a brilliant analogue to the relationship narrative. Both the frights and the fights work together symbiotically.
A Debated Finale
Together’s conclusion, which won’t be spoiled here, has left audiences divided on the story's concluding statement about codependent relationships. Accounts suggest that single viewers have interpreted the film as a compelling reason for remaining unattached. Conversely, a few pairs experiencing tension found that the film actually helped them resolve their issues.
Whether you’re single or coupled up, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the conclusion sow feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in Tim or Millie and scream at your TV, or simply look at your significant other and utter, “I’d do that for you”?
Regardless of the outcome, Together is an exploration you can embark on at this very moment.
Together is streaming on Hulu's platform at present.
