We present a challenge for long-term couples who appreciate scary movies: Sit down with your significant other and view Together. This 2025 indie hit just made its online premiere on Hulu. At first glance, it may seem like standard body horror, but within Together lies a intense contemplation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
A Debut Feature Delving into The Nuances of Love
Together is the first full-length movie for director Michael Shanks. It showcases the real-life married couple Dave Franco and Alison Brie as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have stayed together for ten years. United in marriage in reality in 2017, Franco and Brie infuse a unique chemistry to their roles, masterfully depicting both the strengths and weaknesses of a long-term relationship.
The story commences when the couple move from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A commonly used plot device, of course, but that’s largely where the tropes end. Together becomes as much a psychological exploration of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their rural residence, a violent storm occurs, and Millie and Tim tumble into an hole in the earth. After being trapped overnight there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the pair. This force creates a otherworldly bond between them that goes well past typical partnership.
The whole movie is a slow burn horror experience, interspersing moments of hallucinatory nightmares, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) physical transformations, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes in the middle of something horrific). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together neatly and delivers them in a consistently growing sense of impending doom.
Nuanced Portrayals
A large part of Together is only Brie and Franco, and they masterfully render numerous complexities to the characters’ relationship. Millie’s confidence and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a emotional and physical gap. Her underlying frustration of Tim for his reluctance to focus on anything other than his struggling artistic pursuits gradually emerges.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the reason they’ve relocated rural and removed from his social circle. He is terrified of the notion of totally forfeiting his individual identity in Millie. This fear is further exacerbated by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for getting around.
The film's most intelligent aspect in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
Both characters face the type of challenges that are inherent in most partnerships a decade in. Fundamentally, they have affection for one another. They still laugh together, comfort one another, and open up at times. But under the surface, there’s an unavoidable feeling of questioning about their future together.
Thematic Depth
While the otherworldly presence in Together symbolize these fears of excessive reliance and giving oneself over to a partner, the metaphor avoids being clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these ickier, creepier moments offer a brilliant analogue to the character-driven drama. Both the frights and the fights enhance each other in harmony.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s final act, which remains unspoiled, has left audiences divided on the movie's final takeaway about unhealthy partnerships. Reports indicate that unattached audience members have seen the movie as a compelling reason for avoiding commitment. Meanwhile, a few pairs having disagreements found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
Regardless of your relationship status, your own response could act as a revealing measure of how you perceive partnership. Will the conclusion plant feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a uplifting feeling of optimism? Will you identify in one of the characters and scream at your TV, or simply glance toward your other half and say, “I’d do that for you”?
Whatever the case may be, Together is an experiment you can embark on right now.
Together is available to watch on the streaming service Hulu at present.
