Here's a challenge for partners in committed relationships who enjoy scary movies: Settle in with your partner and stream Together. This 2025 indie hit has now made its launch on a streaming platform on Hulu. At first glance, it could look like standard body horror, but within Together resides a deep meditation about the ways we decide to love our partners.
An Introductory Film Exploring The Nuances of Love
Together marks the introductory feature for filmmaker Michael Shanks. It showcases actors Alison Brie and Dave Franco as a couple named Tim and Millie, partners that have remained a couple for a decade. United in marriage in actuality in 2017, the two stars bring a special spark to their characters, masterfully depicting both the good and bad of a committed partnership.
The story begins when Millie and Tim move from the metropolis to the rural area for her career. A familiar plot device, admittedly, but that’s primarily where the cliches cease. Together transforms into as much a deep dive into the psyche of the pair’s relationship as it is a body horror flick.
A Supernatural Catalyst
While trekking near their new home, a tempest descends, and Millie and Tim fall into an subterranean cavern. After spending the night there and eventually escaping, a supernatural entity takes hold of the duo. This force induces a supernatural closeness between them that goes exceeding emotional intimacy.
The whole movie is a gradually intensifying fright fest, blending elements of fever-dream horrors, unsettling (but not excessively graphic) biological grotesqueries, and authentically humorous exchanges (sometimes amidst something grotesque). Michael Shanks weaves these elements together seamlessly and delivers them in a consistently growing aura of dread.
Complex Characterizations
A significant portion of Together is exclusively the two lead actors, and they skillfully illustrate manifold depths to the characters’ relationship. Her self-assurance and feeling of intimacy is suffering due to a distance. Her subconscious resentment of Tim for his reluctance to chase only his struggling artistic pursuits inexorably rises.
Conversely, Tim experiences isolation and cut off by Millie, who’s the cause they’ve left the city and removed from his network of friends. He is terrified of the idea of totally forfeiting his personal autonomy in his partner. This fear is intensified by the fact he does not operate a vehicle and is dependent on Millie for transportation.
The director's cleverest decision in this movie never makes either of his characters the clear bad guy.
The couple face the kind of problems that are inherent in long-term unions over a long period. Deep down, they still love one another. They find humor with each other, provide solace, and open up at times. But below this facade, there’s an persistent current of uncertainty about their relationship.
Thematic Depth
While the supernatural forces in Together symbolize these anxieties of codependency and totally devoting oneself to a partner, the symbolism does not come across as clumsy or heavy-handed. Instead, these more disturbing, unsettling scenes present a ideal counterpart to the character-driven drama. Both the supernatural and the personal enhance each other symbiotically.
A Controversial Conclusion
Together’s conclusion, which remains unspoiled, has sparked debate on the story's concluding statement about enmeshed dynamics. Accounts suggest that unattached audience members have understood the narrative as a strong argument for staying single. Conversely, some couples who were in conflict found that the film actually helped them reconcile.
If you are alone or with a partner, your own reaction could act as a great barometer of how you view relationships. Will the ending inspire feelings of uneasiness and dread, or a positive outlook on love? Will you recognize your own traits in one of the characters and yell at the screen, or simply glance toward your partner and say, “I’d do that for you”?
No matter your reaction, Together is an exploration you can experience right now.
Together is currently playing on Hulu at present.
